Angel's Trumpet

Brugmansia is a member of the nightshade family, which includes datura, morning glory, and loco weed - all of which are extremely pyschoactive.

Mine languished in a pot for almost 2 years while I struggled with poisonous plants and a very active, orally-fixated toddler. One day I did a search online, and after 2 hours, realized most plants that we don't cultivate for food are poisonous. Unfortunately, that didn't stop three high school students from munching on flowers at People's Park in 2003 after a local told them it would get them high. Everyone survived, but two were admitted to the hospital.

The Angel's Trumpet went in the ground and I went on a mission to teach Stevie which plants he could, and could not, stick in his mouth. I think borage is what saved the day as he loves picking and eating the flowers; they taste like sweet cucumbers and freely re-seed. My neighbor, the rose lady, likes them in salads.

The flowers in the nightshade family have a unique star-like shape. They are lightly scented with honey, but the bees and hummingbirds literally veer in mid-air to avoid the flower.

The Angel's Trumpet did not like the frost; we had to severely prune - but it's back and blooming! Brugmansia tends to look really crappy before a bloom, but fills with leaf after. I get about 3 or 4 blooms a year.

There are massive, wild, white ones dotting the Hayward and San Leandro hills. The botanical garden had a beautiful deep red native in the South America section, but I think it didn't fare the winter well either...