Ann, Don't hesitate to ask any and all questions on the WS forum...you'll always get helpful, friendly responses here! There is lots of great info in the FAQ's section...I printed it out to use as a guide for my first attempt at WSing last year. I had great germination with all the WS Daturas, but didn't sow Brugs. I'd think they'd do well also...I'm WSing them this year too. The white 'Belle Blanche' Dats were the first to germinate. The doubles and colored ones sprouted much later. Good luck! : )

hi. just moved into a new house and found a plant that i dont know. should i wipe it out as a weed? or cultivate it as something good? sorry i cant figure out how to upload my pix here. the plant seems to be a vine with multiple stems/stalks coming out of the same spot in the ground. its stems/stalks are 1/4 inch+ thick, purple (blue? i cant tell colors well.) with short, thick thorns. the thorns are spaced a few inches apart and 2-3 of them appear on opposite sides of the stem. (honestly, they remind me of rose thorns.) the stems/stalks are long (3-5 feet) and bow slightly under their own weight. leaves are slightly long, serrated, and in groups of 3 or 5. when the tip of a stalk meets the ground, it plants roots. i have not seen flowers or berries....yet. it climbs the fence near it, so i am guessing it is a vine of some sort. but it might be a bush. i really cant tell the difference here. as you can all tell, i am not any sort of expert on plants. that is why i am asking for help here. thanks in advance.

There is always the ABADS's site for information and it appears they aren't seeking a FAQ for this site as they put up a mixture of information of which none pertains to Brugmansias or Daturas. Which is truly sad in my book, no wonder folks are fleeing in droves?

dragonroost, very sorry to hear that your datura gave up on you :( This is the first time I hear that datura is a perennial. I mean I knew that it lives only a couple of years or so. But anyway, I think for me it's better to just start new plants every year, because our winters here in Wisconsin are so long... I would actually have to overwinter the plants for about 7 months or so. And considering how fast they are growing from seed, I don't think it is worth the effort. Ruth_Ann, I know these plants are not hardy here. But it's my understanding that it is worth saving brugmansias, because they do act like perennials (if they are overwintered here, of course) and flower faster if they are bigger than a seedling in spring... Valentina