Brugmansia

December 16, 2017

The recent picture of the Brugmansia (Angel’s Trumpets) brought a lot of email responses.  Here are just two of the questions: I bought a tri- colored angel trumpet plant about 4 years ago.  It dies down in winter but grows fairly tall and bushy in the summer but has never bloom.  I live in Conway. Any suggestions on how to get it to bloom?  The Brugmansia in Dec 2 Dem-Gaz is the biggest I have ever seen. I assume it stays outside each winter in south Arkansas. I keep mine over the winter in the basement, but trim them down somewhat. If I don't trim them, the growth is spindly. They never get very much larger each year. Should I repot each year to promote larger size plant?

You do have a choice of leaving Brugmansia in the ground or in a container in central and southern Arkansas, and I even have gardeners in NW Arkansas who have it surviving outdoors—planted in the ground—but if you read about these plants, that should not be the case.  In a container, the plant would need some protection in the winter in most of Arkansas, as the root system will get colder in a pot than in the ground.  By bringing it indoors, you also allow the plant to grow larger, since it does not die back to the soil line, which happens with all plants planted outdoors.  Containerized plants need to be repotted every year.  They get root-bound quickly and if they are root constricted, they will not grow much.  For both planted and containerized plants, Brugmansia need bright light to stay full and bushy. Full morning sun or bright indirect sun with some shade in the afternoon is ideal.  Brugmansia are heavy feeders, so keep fertilizing all growing season.

November 2012

I have a 10' Angel Trumpet (Datura Brugmansia) planted in my backyard. How should I winterize? Some say to cut down and it'll come back. Others say leave it and it will grow onto a tree.

There are two plants called angels trumpet, and you have included both into one name. Datura is one and Brugmansia is another. Datura will overwinter outdoors almost statewide, but they do die back to the ground with a hard freeze. They come back and can grow the next season and then bloom next summer, but rarely do they grow taller than 4 feet or so. Their flowers grow upright and are usually white or purple. Brugmansia is typically the one that grows like a small tree or large shrub, and it is not quite as winter hardy as Datura, but it will overwinter in protected spots in NW Arkansas and does well in central and southern Arkansas. It comes in white, pink, yellow or apricot color and its large flowers hang down. If you want it to be a small tree and bloom earlier, then moving it inside or to a protected spot in a garage to prevent freezing would be called for.

August 2012

I have an angel trumpet that I rooted from a cutting. When and how much do I cut it back in the fall? Is there a special way I need to cut it to make cuttings?

Angel trumpet is the common name for Brugmansia and Datura. Brugmansia is less winter hardy than Datura which is hardy statewide. If you live in central Arkansas, you can plant the Brugmansia in the ground and let it die to the ground in the fall and hopefully come back next spring. Or you can leave it in the container and move the pot inside and use as a houseplant, put in a greenhouse if you have access to one, or store it in the garage for winter protection. If the plant is protected and doesn't die to the ground, it will become a larger plant next season and bloom earlier. It can be left whole or cut back. If planted in the ground, it will freeze to the ground with a killing frost, but you can take cuttings before that occurs. If you do cut it back, it roots readily –make the cuttings 3-4 inches in length.

October 2006

My husband and I just returned from Ontario, Canada and while visiting there we noticed the many flowering Angel Trumpets growing in large containers on the street and also in some of the B & B gardens. I did ask the manager of one establishment about their winter hardiness and she said they were left in the ground. Can that be so? The plants (trunk) were as large as the one we have that I have kept in the garage for the last 2 winters. I also have a friend who planted her Angel Trumpet in the ground and she cuts it back in the fall, before a killing frost, and she says it has come back the next spring. We are in Zone 7. Can you please tell me what the best thing to do is?

I cannot possibly believe the brugmansia—(Angels Trumpet) survive all winter outdoors in Canada, unless there is a variety I don’t know about! The plant is listed as a zone 9 plant, but we have had it over winter occasionally - (depending on variety) in zone 7 (Central Arkansas). If however, you want to form small trees with sizable tree trunks, you will need to over winter them indoors. Outdoors, even if they survive, they will die to the ground and start growing again after the soil warms up in late spring. They can produce a good sized plant in one season, but not large woody trunks. The plants typically don't begin to bloom well until late summer to early fall. Then they can bloom up until frost. They can be protected in a garage or storage shed, or grown indoors as a houseplant for the winter.

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