Brugmansia suaveolens
Yellow angel’s trumpet, golden brugmansia: the same spectacular shrub as its white sister, but in a soft yellow to apricot hue that catches the evening light. Its immense pendulous flowers release a fragrance that intensifies as night falls, when they attract their nocturnal pollinators.
Characteristics:
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Bright flowering: immense pendulous yellow trumpets, highly fragrant, all summer until the first frosts.
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Vigorous growth: a fast-growing shrub that gains substantial volume in a single season.
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Nocturnal fragrance: its sweet scent is released mainly in the evening and at night.
Precautions — read carefully:
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All parts of the plant are highly toxic if ingested — flowers, leaves, stems and seeds. Ingestion, even in small quantities, can cause severe poisoning.
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Do not place it in a garden frequented by young children, or within reach of pets. The large, colorful flowers are visually attractive to children.
- Wear gloves when pruning or handling it, and wash your hands afterward. Avoid breathing in its fragrance for long periods in an enclosed space.
- Never use this plant for consumption or preparation, in any form whatsoever.
- Frost-tender plant: it does not survive frost and must be overwintered in a frost-free place in most regions.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: sunny to light partial shade, in a warm location sheltered from the wind.
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Soil: rich, deep, moist and well-drained. This plant has a very high need for water and nutrients: adding compost is genuinely beneficial, and the substrate must never dry out completely in summer.
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Method: no cold stratification — this South American species requires warmth. Soak the seeds for 24 hours in lukewarm water, then sow them 1 cm deep in a substrate kept moist at 22-25 °C. Handle the seeds with gloves. See how to sow your seeds.
Planting advice:
- Grow it in the ground only in regions with a mild climate, or in a large pot brought into a greenhouse or conservatory for the winter, elsewhere in France.
- Choose a location away from walkways, play areas and vegetable gardens.
Care advice:
- Water abundantly and regularly in summer, especially when grown in a pot: it is a very thirsty plant that wilts quickly if neglected.
- Prune at the end of winter to maintain a compact shape, wearing gloves and away from children.
- Overwinter in a frost-free place, somewhere cool and bright, while greatly reducing watering.
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its pale flowers with an evening fragrance are typical of night-pollinated plants: in its native range, moths and bats visit them.
- In our climates, it attracts hawk moths at dusk, the butterflies that feed while hovering.
Uses:
- Strictly ornamental: a standalone specimen in a pot on a terrace, or planted in the ground in a Mediterranean garden, away from walkways. Combine it with the white angel’s trumpet for a contrast of colors as evening falls.
Harvesting your own seeds:
The fruits, rare in our climates, contain seeds that must be handled with gloves and stored in a clearly labeled container, out of the reach of children. See storing your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose reproducible, non-hybrid varieties, tested for their germination rate, sorted and carefully packaged, without any chemical treatment. Our conviction: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
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