Brugmansia

Brugmansia

I really have been bitten by the brug∼bug. I have it bad, really bad. These breathtaking plants with their stupendous drooping bellflowers are really something to behold. The scents they emit are intoxicating, their flowers entice one to sniff. They have such an exotic look about them, one can be sure they are from the tropics just to gaze upon a tree in full flush.

I hope you get bitten too. It's a good thing, this hobby of mine. My neighbors are astounded, all asking 'What is that strange flower that fills my yard with the smell of perfume?'

I've always loved gardening, and have been doing it for years. But a few years back, when I found this plant perchance, I could not believe that it had escaped my eye for such a long time. Now I'm stuck, I can't go back. I have amassed a small forest, and love each and every one of them. Every time I think I have a favorite, I see another, and then another. And so on and on it goes with the Angels.

Taxonomic information

  • Kingdom: Plant
  • Phylum: Magnoliophyta
  • Class: Magnoliopsida
  • Order: Solanales
  • Family: Solanaceae
  • Scientific name: Brugmansia sp.
  • Common name: Angels Trumpet

Brugmansia have been cultivated by certain groups and organizations for many years now, resulting in many varied cultivars. Having several of these can be the beginning of a collection that is worthy of your own hybridizing efforts. Since most brugmansia available today are not species, but rather cultivars, they are all clones, and not able to reproduce on the same tree.

Let me put this another way. If you only have one angels trumpet tree, you cannot take the pollen from one flower and brush it onto the stamen of another flower on the same tree and have it set a pod. It does not work that way. It is self∼ sterile.

Instead, you will need at least two different brugmansia cultivars to get a chance at hybridizing your own, creating your own cross, and perhaps a new flower form that is worthy of registering with the brugmansia community. The more cultivars you own, the better your chances of reaching such a goal, if it be yours.

If you are interested in learning more about creating your own crosses, think about joining Brugmansia Growers International.

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