Nicotiana glauca

It will! Any scent?

None to speak of...............

Oh well, it's still stunning!

Meanie:

Yes, it's a horrible, noxious weed which will sprout up in the hardest, rocky soils (even on hill sides)...and many times will sprout through asphalt (just like the castor bean tree). It's not only a weed in SoCal but in most of California, even up the the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

I see this tree everywhere, where I work (just past the parking lot). It grows right next to the railroad tracks.

You can read on the internet what a horrible plant it is in most of the Southwestern states.

Thought that would get ya going!

Is Mackaya bella a weed there? I have some seed to go with the rest of your seeds if you want them.

Meanie:

If you only knew how many millions of N. glauca pop up everywhere! LOL! :>)

I have a Mackaya bella planted in the front yard. It's a beautiful flowering shrub. It's native to Southeast Africa and likes quite a bit of water. It is not a weed here. It's quite commonly available, though.

M. bella is the the easiest shrub to grow from cuttings. I originally got two of the tiniest cuttings from Strybing Arboretum (now called: San Francisco Botanical Garden) in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, back in 1994. The shrub was the largest I've ever seen, anywhere. It was around 15ft (4.6ft) tall. Both cuttings grew roots very quickly.

M. bella is a very tender shrub. I remember I gave my father a cutting and he had a beautiful large shrub growing in shade is in San Jose, CA. One year there was a frost just slightly below freezing and whole shrub burned up. It did recover in time, though.

Back to the drawing board then!

I'm sure you're going to love your M. bella! It's such a beautiful flowering shrub! The only drawback is that it only blooms once a year (here in San Diego and that's in early to mid-spring).

It'll most likely do better in your nice, fertile soil with the rain fall you receive. It's so dry here that it never gets all the water that it deserves...so it's never grown taller than 2 1/2 feet.

"It'll most likely do better in your nice, fertile soil with the rain fall you receive. It's so dry here that it never gets all the water that it deserves...so it's never grown taller than 2 1/2 feet"

It'll love our winters!
The seed that I collected is germinating after a week, and the cuttings have also taken after only two weeks!

Oooppps! I forgot about your winter. Yes, it definitely won't survive your winter outdoors (sometimes I forget).

I've had M. bella seedlings sprout up in the yard in late winter or early spring. My plant produces lots of seed, if I don't cut them off. I would prefer to grow it from cutting, though. It's because the cuttings germinate so quickly and easily.

I certainly agree about the cuttings. But the seeds will be reasonable plants by the spring to swap.

The seed pods seem to explode, so I may have a few more in the spring................

Yes, M. bella can grow quickly with lots of water and fertilizer.

I've seen the seed pods explode...there's several plants which do that here. I've dug up little seedling in the past and given them away.