WooHoo! Just wait til you smell them. You'll be scattering those seeds all over the yard. Here's the mother plant(s), btw. It's just down the street from me. Anybody else need seeds, let me know in another month. There'll be plently.

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I do, I do!!!! I've been wanting seeds of these for quite some time, the ones with the strong fragrance. Are these the ones that you can smell them from several feet away, or do you have to stick your nose in the flower to smell anything?

Karen

I would LOVE some seeds, I am so jealous of everything you grow. Reminds me, I have to see if there are anymore ripe pink poppy pods at the corner of our street.

My datura is from two beautiful cuttings that token (Tom) brought over to my house - I have two beautiful, big plants now.

I tried growing them from seed one year but had no luck. Maybe this year I will.

Carrie

That's a beautiful stand of datura! I grew it one year up here, but the plant just got TOO big for me, even in a pot. I'll try them again when I get more space.

PV

This is datura inoxia. It's highly fragrant but only at night. Planted with four o'clocks and scented petunias, it's wonderful for a moongarden. I have white four o'clock seeds too. Maybe I'll make a moon garden package and offer them up later in the season when I collect more seeds. :)

Is it an annual? It seems that the one pictured is so big, I assumed that it has been there for years to get that huge!

What are my chances mine will return? Thanks

Carrie

Carrie, in some areas it may act as a perennial, but will die back with frost. Even if it doesn't return, don't worry. That clump in the photo is made of many many plants. These are the seed pods. I spotted the first two split today.

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As the summer progresses, there'll be more and more seeds in each pod. As they dry, they'll turn a darker brown. The ones I collected last summer had about 50 seeds each. I only collected a few and gave away lots.

Great photo - thanks

Carrie

Well dang....I think I have an itty bitty Datura....I was going to post a pic of what the leftover pod looked like and it looks just like that!!!! Where did that come from? I would never put Datura in my back yard because of the dogs. Thanks Token, you are helpful as always. p.s., I still want seeds....and I went to the corner lot and harvested a huge handful of the beautiful pink poppy pods...there are still quite a few not ready. My DH thinks I am nutter. (I am, lol)

Carrie, the amaranthus is almost 4' tall. That's one of the smallest clumps of melampodium too. Others are 18-24" and huge. Covered with blooms.

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That plume on top will get huge... be prepared next year, you will have tons of reseeds...that's how you got that one from me!

Carrie

I've already taken one plume from another plant and shook tiny black seeds all over the bare ground. That was a couple weeks ago. It's putting out lateral branches now with more seed heads. :)

The melampodium is doing great too. I need more zinnias next year. Big ones.

I'll have some from my tall Pink Zinnias, as long as the goldfinches don't continue to attack them (as they did yours)...

The hibiscus was eaten really bad, but I think it will be fine for next spring, since it gets cut to the ground anyway (right?)... ;0/

Carrie

Yep. I cut mine down last year in late October. We didn't have a frost until Nov 22 in my yard. Charlotte has an average frost date of Nov 9. I'm in a tiny microclimate thanks to all the stone under my soil and in the yard.

Late October... probably good time to come?

Carrie

Hi guys,
what are the exact names of the danturas and amaranthus?
they are so beautiful
and you know this is were i shop for seeds lol
I can't tell what i'm buying from seed packet pictures.
it's always just a close up of the flower and not the whole plant.
i'll be adding both to my trade lists wants :)
Laura

October will be perfect Carrie. Maybe early though, not too late. An early frost won't be good.

Laura, the datura is Datura inoxia. I have seeds already. More to come in the next couple of months. There's a triple yellow too.

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You know you are welcomed to come over any time!

Carrie

Wow - what a lovely datura. I so love this flower. I was able to successfully WS several seeds though for whatever reason none of my seedlings have grown well at all. I have just returned from vacation and it looks as though some type of insect has decided these seedlings are a tasty snack. Can anybody tell me what datura's need to grow happily? BTW Token I am interested in your offer of seeds. I would so like to give the datura another try next year.

-StLGirl

I WS'd one that came up with purple flowers.(Thanks to whoever sent it!)

So how do I collect seeds? Is it going to have those bumpy looking seedpods?

It will have the seed pods if they were pollinated. Since they open in the evenings, it helps to have sphinx moths and other nocturnal nectar drinkers.

These are the seed pods, split and cracked on their own.

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I've found they do best in poor soil, full sun, and lots of water. The large white one up there is growing in NC clay with no fertilizer, no extra water, and is surrounded by asphalt against brick with a SouthEast exposure. It's baked to say the least.

Token..........the pods don't have to turn brown? I swear that looks like the pod I have on one of my plants. I would like to save the seed if I can.

Daisy, I collect seed when the pod splits. If you leave it too long, lots of the seeds fall out, and it does turn brown. Just wait til it splits on its own. Then spread the seeds out somewhere and let them dry out. Only the white ones have split for me so far. The yellow is still green and solid.

Carrie/Tom,

My amaranth is about 7' tall. The plume is really big. It's still color maroon. When is the right time to harvest seeds from it? Do I have to wait for the plumes to turn brown?

Neil, I've been collecting seeds from the amaranthus and just scattering them. I stick the plume into a large container and shake. Tiny black seeds collect in the bottom of the container. I have been scattering them around the garden. I'll probably spend more time weeding these than oak seedlings next spring.

What was the color of the plumes when you did that? It's my first time to grow amaranth so I'm not sure what color I should wait before they're ready for harvest. Thanks.

Oh, I was reading one of your post. What does "die back" mean? I would like to try daturas again. I ws them in Feb but nothing showed up. Maybe, I should try March next year.

Sorry, me again. LOL. :D I still have some seeds of the daturas you gave to me. Are they still good? Also, since my ws failed for this plant, what is the better approach to grow them? We get down to -25F to -35F here in late January and early Feb. Should they be put in full sun?

Thanks again! =)

Neil, mine are still the same color, not dried out at all. Every couple of days I just take my container out and shake them to see if I get any seed. If they're ripe, they'll fall out.

In your zone, they'll be annuals. Here in NC, they can be perennials depending on their microclimate. They're really not 100% hardy for us either.

The seeds should be fine. I had my best luck just tossing the seeds into a raked bed in March. The wintersown plants just didn't germinate well. They need a lot of heat and can rot quickly. In their mature state, daturas like dry, poor soil and full sun. Mine wilt under the heat of the day, but bounce back at night. I rarely water them.

Ok, I will treat them like annuals. I will direct seed them around first week of May. Thanks for the info. :)