Datura metel Double White Lady Seeds - Brugmansia

Datura metel 'Double White Lady' is a beautiful, pure white, double flowered form of Brugmansia meteloides, a perennial species related to the tall shrub Brugmansia (Angle's Trumpets). It is generally treated an annual in colder regions. However beautiful, Datura is known for its toxicity: all parts of the plant are poisonous to a similar degree as foxgloves, oleander and wolfbane.

There are around fifteen species of Datura or Brugmansia, cultivated for as ornamental plants for flower gardens and terraces. Datura metel belongs to the Solanaceae family, as do tomatoes, tobacco and potatoes. It has many common names including thornapple, jimsonweed, moonflower, devil's weed and hell's bells. Its origins are a little unclear, probably Central America. It has been cultivated for a very long time in southern China, later spreading to the rest of Asia and eventually to Europe. The drought resistant plants occur naturally on wasteland and roadsides. Datura meteloides 'Double White Lady' is a superb cultivar with large, frilled, double white flowers. This tender perennial forms a tuberous root that dreads waterlogged soils and frosts. However, it is fast-growing and can easily be grown as an annual plant in colder climates. In the space of 4 to 5 months, it forms a bushy clump forms, growing to a height and spread of 50 cm to over 1 m. The stems are branched, often tinged with purplish or blackish red. They carry whole, elliptical to largely oval, asymmetrical leaves, 5 to 20 cm long and 4 to 15 cm wide. They are a very dark shade of green. The flowering period occurs in summer, from July to October, approximately 4 months after sowing. The flowers are solitary and erect, consisting in a tubular calyx prolonged by a double corolla. The whole flower measures 8 to 20 cm long and gives off a pleasant scent during the daytime and evening, attracting many foraging insects. The flowers are followed by globular fruits of 3-4 cm in diameter, covered with short thorns.

Datura is perfect for growing in pots on the patio or in the veranda, along paths or next to the front door, gracing the evening air with its lovely scent. In milder climates, it can be grown as a perennial, protected from winter frosts under a thick layer of mulch.