Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia)
Huge hanging trumpets with an evening perfume you'll smell across the yard. Honest caveat: every part of this plant is poisonous, so it's not the pick for a yard with curious kids or pets.
Huge fragrant hanging trumpets, and every part of it is poisonous.
Invasive status alert
SAFETY NOTE: All parts of Angel's Trumpet are poisonous if eaten, including leaves, flowers, seeds, and roots. It can be dangerous or fatal to people and pets, and the plant is sometimes misused as a drug, which is extremely dangerous. I would not plant it where small children or pets play, and everyone in the household should know not to eat any part of it.
Why it works here
The flowers are the draw, huge pendulous trumpets in white, peach, yellow, or pink, often a foot long, that pour out a heavy sweet fragrance in the evening. It blooms in big flushes through the warm season and grows fast, so it makes a dramatic specimen near a patio where you sit at dusk. It thrives in our heat and humidity as long as you keep the water and food coming.
Care
Treat it as a heavy feeder and a heavy drinker: rich soil, steady water, and generous compost with organic fertilizer through the growing season fuel those big bloom flushes. Mulch to hold moisture. Prune to shape and to keep it from getting top-heavy, and it flowers on new growth so pruning actually drives more blooms. Wear gloves when you handle or prune it and wash up after, and always keep the poison caution in mind around kids and pets. In a hard freeze it can die back and regrow from the roots.
Common problems
Toxicity: the defining caveat, covered in the safety note above. This is not a plant for every yard.
Thirst and wilting: it droops fast when dry, especially in heat and bloom. Keep it watered and mulched.
Whiteflies, spider mites, and caterpillars: common on the soft leaves. Rinse them off, hand pick caterpillars, and lean on beneficial insects rather than sprays.
Common questions
How dangerous is it, really?
Serious. Every part is poisonous if eaten, and it can harm or kill people and pets. If you have young kids or pets that chew, I would pick a different plant. If you plant it, everyone needs to know not to eat any part of it.
Why does it only smell at night?
It is evening-scented to attract night pollinators like moths. That is why folks plant it near a porch for after-dark fragrance.
Angel's trumpet or devil's trumpet?
This is Brugmansia, the one with big downward-hanging flowers. Datura is a related plant with upward flowers, also toxic. Both deserve the same caution.
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