Datura metel Belle Blanche seeds - Brugmansia

Datura metel 'Belle Blanche' is a beautiful selection of Brugmansia meteloides with large, upright white flowers, a tender perennial species often grown as an annual. This variety forms a very beautiful clump in one season, its beautiful bluish-green leaves serving as a backdrop to its bright white flowers. In a pot on the terrace, it will perfume the summer evenings.

There are about fifteen species of Datura cultivated for terrace and garden decoration. Datura metel belongs to the Solanaceae family and is probably native to Central America. The numerous common names given to this plant have contributed to its reputation as a poisonous plant: Devil's Herb, Angel's Trumpets, Trumpets of the Last Judgment, Mad Trumpet, Thorny Apple. While all parts of the plant are toxic, it seems that Datura receives a special "media" treatment, unlike foxgloves, oleanders, or aconites, which are equally dangerous. This is probably due to the somewhat malevolent appearance of its horned trumpet-like flower. This plant has been cultivated for a long time in southern China before spreading to the rest of Asia and eventually reaching Europe. In the wild, Datura metel grows in fallow lands and along roadsides. Datura is a perennial in the ground in very mild regions if its crown is protected from frost and moisture with a thick mulch.

The 'Belle Blanche' Datura is a herbaceous perennial plant that grows from a tuberous root sensitive to frost and excess water. Within 4 to 5 months after seed germination, this datura forms a spreading bushy clump, reaching, depending on growing conditions, 60 cm to 1 m in all directions. The stems are branched, not hairy except on young shoots, often tinged with purplish or reddish-black. They bear entire or angular-edged, elliptical to broadly ovate, asymmetrical, membranous leaves, 5 to 20 cm long and 4 to 15 cm wide. Their colour is a dark bluish-green. Flowering occurs from July to October. It produces solitary, upright flowers in the form of elongated trumpets, measuring up to 20 cm long. The flower emits a pleasant fragrance especially in the evening and at night, attracting pollinating insects. Each flower does not live more than 24 hours. After pollination, round fruits measuring 3-4 cm in diameter, adorned with short spines, form. The base of the fruit rests on the calyx, forming a sort of collar.

The 'Belle Blanche' Datura thrives in a pot on the terrace or in a sunny exotic bed. During the long summer evenings, its fragrance will spread as the night's coolness sets in. This plant is often placed alone, near the house or a walkway to enjoy its scent. To enhance its strange beauty, it can be paired with canna 'Red Wine' or Ricinus (Ricinus communis 'Impala'), adding a tropical charm. To lighten the ensemble, opt for ornamental grasses like Pennisetum. 'Belle Blanche' Datura can also be combined with agapanthus 'Blue Heaven', whose blue flowers create a harmonious and contrasting display with the Datura trumpets.