Datura Metel

Wonderful this flower..:o))

Mine's getting closer :) That's a really nice shot, Meanie

Thanks guys.
Mrv - bet you're humming the ugly duckling tune around the house now!

Meanie:

Love the white flower!

These plants grow wild in CA...they are actually considered a noxious weed in most low-elevations of CA. I love them anyway! : > )

You bet I am :)

Delonix - I've read this about the southern states too. To be fair, the foliage does have a bit of an unpleasant odour if touched, and it is a highly toxic plant too.

Mrv - we look forward to the photos of yours in bloom!

Meanie:

Yes, it grows wild in all the mild-climates of the U.S. I have a friend who has a 150 acre property...these plants grow everywhere...my friend has a huge Bob Cat tiller and plows the thousands of plants under every year.

It grows only to 4 - 8 feet tall and has white or purple flowers...and only lives a few years. Are they short-lived (2 years) there also?

I must admit that I treat them very much as an annual, collecting seed from the plant and starting fresh plants off mid March ish.
They seem to be less interested in height, reaching only 2 or 3 foot. However, this particular plant has developed a very bushy habit and now has three viable flowering stems, with maybe 2 more to come.

Meanie:

Do the seeds ever escape and end up growing in the ground?

I only ever let one seed pod per plant develop, so it's easy to keep an eye on them to harvest the seeds.
I clearly dropped a couple once, as I found a couple of self seeders that had just germinated, but that was in July - I don't think that our climate would allow self seeded plants the time to flower.

Meanie:

It's probably a good thing these plants don't naturalize.