Angel's Trumpet Overview
Angel's Trumpets, or Brugmansias, make beautiful, show-stopping floral displays when grown as a container plant on a patio or deck or as the focal point in an outdoor garden. Fast growing, trumpet-shaped flowers emit an intoxicating nighttime fragrance for gardeners to enjoy. Flowers range in size from 6” to 12” long and come in a variety of colors, including white, pink, yellow, and peach. Depending on which variety of Angel’s Trumpet you grow, some flower nearly continuously throughout the growing season and others flower intermittently, especially in abundance when the nights are cooler.
Angel’s Trumpets are popular in moon gardens for their sweet alluring evening scent. They are some of the easiest flowers to grow, simply give the plant lots of fertilizer, full sun and daily watering when temperatures are hot and dry.
At Logee's, we have a brugmansia breeding program that we have been doing for years. It has produced hybrids like Brugmansia 'Angel's Summer Dream.' This one was chosen for its ability to flower at a short height and perform well in a basket.
Brugmansia Breeding Program
Byron, goes through 100's of seedlings and selects plants that have desirable traits such as free flowering, early blooming, outstanding color or a double form. Every year we have 8-10 possibilities and then narrow it down to the very best, and end up with 1-4 new hybrids every year. It is an exciting time to see what new shape, color or form will delight gardeners.
Brugmansia 'Angel's Summer Dream'
The breeding program has produced hybrids like Brugmansia 'Angel's Summer Dream.' This one was chosen for its ability to flower at a short height and perform well in a basket.
Brugmansia 'Pink Profusion'
Also from the Logee's breeding program is the Brugmansia 'Pink Profusion', which was chosen for its curly tails and its prolific abundance of flowers on a short stature giving an incredible show from summer through fall.
Brugmansia 'Lemon Zest'
The Angel's Trumpet 'Lemon Zest' is a Logee's original that has bold yellow blooms. It's canopy can reach up to 6" wide when fully grown.
Brugmansia 'Pinkie's Wish'
A favorite of experts and beginners alike is the Angel's Trumpet 'Pinkie's Wish'. What makes this Logee's original hybrid special is it's fluffy double flower.
Caring for Angel's Trumpets
To care for these beauties, it is important to mimic their native habitat. Typically they grow in the Andes mountains and love cooler temperatures at night
Light
Angel's Trumpets need full sun, however, for young specimens, it is important to be careful of the strongest sun around 12 noon. Larger specimens can handle this high, direct sunlight just fine. If you have a young specimen and are growing it indoors, a south face window is best. If you are growing it outdoors, east or west sun is ideal until it's root ball is big enough to be in an 8 inch pot.
Fertilizer
Angel's Trumpets love fertilizer, especially in the summer time. From April to November, fertilizing them every 1-2 weeks will help them grow quickly. In the winter, there is no need to fertilize them if you are letting them go dormant in a basement or garage. If you are growing them in light during the winter, only fertilize them if they are showing signs of chlorosis with yellowing leaves.
Water
Be sure to give Angel's Trumpets plenty of water and don't dry them out. This can be accomplished by making sure if it is container grown to grow in a large enough pot. If your canopy is 2-3 feet wide or 3-4 feet high that would warrant a 12" pot. If planted directly in the ground, keep well watered and fed.
Toxicity
Like many plants, Angel's Trumpets are poisonous if ingested. They also have an irritating sap to the eyes and sometimes hands, so take care when pruning.