Datura outpacing black nightshade
After taking some time to think it over, I went out today and began uprooting black nightshade plants that had grown in places other than where I planted them. For one thing, I don’t want it taking over my entire yard. I have a lot of other herbs out there, and they need their growing space too. For another, I don’t like the way this plant has acted towards me and others. I am not sure whether I will even leave the species plant in the area where I planted them. I don’t really want black nightshade all over the place there, either. I have a big plot of the species in the shade area, so it’s not like I won’t have any of those. I did indeed take those out, plus all the black nightshade volunteers all over the garden. I kept the volunteers in the shade patch and put a soaker hose there. But I also took out most of the black jimsonweed volunteers and made room in the datura patch for some sunflowers, since one has volunteered there).
That said, it looks like the heat is more to the daturas’ liking than the black nighthsade’s. The daturas are forming a massive canopy over their section of the garden, even beginning to overtake the black nightshade, which is looking a little more skeletal as it forms tons of berries in preparation for attempting to carpetbomb that part of the garden with its children.
Toloache flower 071810
I have to say that I love the toloache leaves. They are so beautifully thick, almost blueish, and untouched by bug chomping. In comparison, bugs just love to eat that jimsonweed, but it grows on undaunted; that’s something I really like about that plant: its toughness and ability to persist. It shrugs off threat. My unmatta (D. fastuosa) are the laggards of the datura patch. They are much smaller, but looking closely yesterday, I saw that one is forming buds. Next time, they are going out front, because I suspect they would like more sun.
The calendulas that are out front look fine but they are a bit tame for my tastes. I think they would do better as a big bed instead of as single plantings. Next year I will try that. The blood-drop emlets just could not compete with the grass. The one in the pot on the patio is doing great, but the ones in the ground have been smothered by it.
The wild tobacco (Nicotiana rustica) is starting to flower, but the lower leaves are yellowing, and I’m not sure if it’s because of dryness or what.
The variegated nicandra is growing like a house on fire and I will definitely be getting seeds from it, but after all this effort, I don’t think it was worth the wait. It is just so-so to look at, it cannot be used for anything, and it does not have a good smell. The leaves were very nicely variegated at first, but now they are shading more into green. I think in partial shade it would be more attractively variegated. That is usually the case with variegated plants.
Jasmine tobacco
The good smell is all in the jasmine tobacco (Nicotiana alata, which I obtained as Nicotiana affinis). This ought to be called gardenia tobacco, as far as I’m concerned, because that’s what it smells like. Those plants have put on a bunch of flowers and it has gotten to the point now where in the early evening, you can smell them at the end of the driveway. Papa Legba must like them. I hope I can collect some seeds from those. The flowers look a bit ragged in the daytime, but at dust they perk up and are very nice in the morning. The scent is very strong and changes. During the day it is almost absent. Sometimes it can smell strongly soapy. It’s a very interesting plant, and one I will definitely grow again. It looks like they have changed the nomenclature for this plant and it is in fact a parent for a lot of the scented nicotianas out there right now, especially the “Perfume” series.
I have jasmine tobacco’s cousin, woodland tobacco (N. sylvestris), growing in the back, but it is quite stunted in comparison. Not much light back gets there, and the soil is much drier. The front has more runoff from the roof and the driveway.
I gave the peppers much larger pots this year, trading the one-gallon for five-gallon (although these five-gallons are on the small side). They seem to also like the position I gave them against the western wall of the house, where a lot of light and warmth is reflected on them. The Bull Nose peppers are beginning to form fruits, and the Aleppo peppers are just beginning to get buds. I am hoping for a much better pepper harvest this year, as I am paying them a great deal more attention and they are in much bigger pots.
Finally, the wild purple petunia (Petunia integrifolia) that volunteered en masse in a pot from last year, does have a nice smell after all. Last year I am sure the smell was either absent or unpleasant. It was on that basis I decided not to harvest the seeds, in fact. So this year I will definitely be harvesting seeds from this and, if it ever gets flowers, the wild white petunia (P. axillaris). Those are really dragging their feet. One pot full was eaten almost to nubbins by something (ants?). The other pot is only now beginning to take off. We still have plenty of summer left, but I hope they get their butts in gear.
What happy-looking plants!