Last year I was screwing around with so many veggies and distracting myself in various ways until it got too late to plant datura. This year I’ve got the daturas in the ground already. I started (warning, nomenclature problems ahead):
Datura bernhardii, which as I remember is like a stramonium but smaller, the flowers are lavender with purple interior stripes, and they don’t open too far. These seeds are about six years old but had no problems germinating at all.
Datura fastuosa – the purple double D. metel with purple stems, favorite of Unmatta, avatar of Shiva. It occurs to me looking at this picture of a bud that the link between fastuosa and Unmatta, who has black skin, might be based on appearance as well as on the effects of this plant.
Datura stramonium var. inermis – the spine-free jimsonweed with purple interior stripes on the flowers. I love this thing. This is the one that speaks to me (“So you’re awake now!”). I’ve got a couple volunteers of this plant in the peas as well.
Datura innoxia – toloache. Big almost fleshy white flowers and handsome leaves. There is a lavender-tinted one as well but those didn’t germinate.
I have seeds of some others, but these are the ones I really wanted to grow and harvest seeds from. Since I didn’t get much action at first with the D. fastuosa, which I have gotten very interested in working with, I started five more. Now they’re all coming up. Those are going in the front when they’re ready, to be interspersed with wild tobaccos for Papa Legba. The rest of the daturas are next to the patio in the back, together with four wild lettuce younglings. Thought they’d get along well.:) Along the same lines, I’ve got a whole flat of Wonderberry (aka in plain language Solanum nigrum) and Chichiquelite (S. nigrum relative) ready to put into the ground–I should have seeds of both these edible nightshade berries in the fall and am looking forward to making nightshade jam and perhaps wine tincture from them. Yep, this year this witch’s garden really looks like a witch’s garden. Feels good!
Mmm I so want to grow wild tobaccos – for Legba, the ancestors, and also to keep away the persistent aphids. A friend of mine who comes from a 500-year lineage of professional gardeners told me that Daturas flower best when planted near other showy flowers. So perhaps put a few pots of flowers near the daturas you wish to flower so you have seeds to harvest? I’m going to try this as well with my own daturas and see if it works.
Loving you’re latest posts!
Slainte!
Sarah
Here in South Texas, I always seem to get a few stray specimens of Wild Tobacco whether I transplant it or not and I’m not yet sure how it gets spread, but, its an interesting plant and very tolerant. And, yes, its favored by Papa Legba which is always a good thing, whatever your belief system. That is a very good Loa to have on your side He opens doors.