Article by Tricia Christopher, Landscape Architect and Designer of the Mediterranean Garden

Enjoy the fragrance, beauty and mysterious enchantment of the exotic Brugmansia (also called Angel’s Trumpet).

What could be more captivating than the idea of a flower looking like an angel’s trumpet? This is the romantic name given to Brugmansia, a plant known for it’s large, bell-shaped pendulous flowers that are mysteriously fragrant at night…perhaps for the fairies’ nighttime orchestra? Or to accompany an angelic choir?

As a young girl, I was taken with the idea of a flower looking like an instrument, and I still feel awe-struck when viewing this plant in full bloom. This large shrub can be decorated with hundreds of 10” long enticing blooms, in colors that range from the original creamy white to the buttery yellows and peachy or orange-sherbet tones of the newer hybrids. The flowers are sweetly fragrant in the evenings because they attract night-flying moths, which get lost in their tubular flowers. Their bumbling about does a fine job of pollinating the flower, thus insuring that seeds develop for the survival of the species.

However, all humans (and deer) beware: do not eat any part of a Brugmansia! All parts of the plant are poisonous, especially the seeds and leaves.

Be enchanted by the beautiful Brugmansia in the Mediterranean Garden.