Thursday, September 30, 2010

Angel's Trumpet In Full Bloom

The cooler nights and shorter days have given way to an abundance of Angel's Trumpet Blooms at the Greenhouses. For those of you who have never grown Angel's Trumpets (Brugmansias), these are fast growing fluted flowers that emit an intoxicating nighttime fragrance. Easy-to-grow, simply give lots of fertilizer and full sun and the blooms will reward you time and again. I took pictures of three varieties that were in full bloom yesterday.

Angel's Trumpet 'Cherub' has hundreds of open flowers. The nighttime fragrance is overwhelming.



This is a 6 year-old specimen. Every fall, we prune it back to a bare stem, about 3 feet high and then overwinter it in a cool greenhouse or you can overwinter an Angel's Trumpet in a basement or a garage that doesn't go below freezing. Water only once a month and when springtime arrives put the plant in a sunny spot and watch it sprout back to life.

This year a bird's nest made a home in 'Cherub' at its trunk bifurcation.

The blooms are a translucent pink when viewed from underneath.

The flowers gather in frilly pink clusters.


The Italian Terra-Cotta pot is about 32 inches wide and has been in the Logee-Martin family for nearly 60 years.

A new Variety of Angel's Trumpet will be introduced in 2011. It is another Byron Martin hybrid called Brugmansia 'Angel's Blushing Beauty'.


I turned the pot for another view of this two year-old specimen. Notice the lovely soft pink blooms that cascade in layers of color.


Of course, our old standby Brugmansia 'Angel's Summer Dream' was blooming its head off and does so most of the year.

2 comments:

  1. Amazing!! My Cherub is blooming but doesn't have a fraction of the blooms that yours does. I have a shady yard so that would account for some of this but do you fertilize yours all summer to help with the blooms? if so, what do you use? thanks! -Lorri

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  2. Yes, Brugmansias are heavy feeders in the active growing season which is Spring to early Fall. We feed them a balanced fertilizer (7-9-5). We use Dyna-grow a liquid fertilizer: 1/2 tsp/gal every time you water. You can also use a top dressing balanced fertilizer that is also effective and then the plant gets a little feed every watering. Good luck!

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