Flowering Tobacco

Most people know the flowering tobacco annual flowers. You can find them at the greenhouses or order the seed online. Easy to grow, coming in many colors: white, lavender, red, and shades in between.

I plant the variety Nicotiana alata, which grows up to 4 feet tall with white flowers opening at night giving off a jasmine order. Its main pollinator is the large sphinx moth which has been flying around at night with the fireflies. Being a bright white color, they seem to glow in the moonlight.

I started these indoors and wondered if they would germinate because the seed is smaller than sand. I did not cover them and they all popped up within a week. The wind does not seem to bother the plants much.

Being related to the regular tobacco plant, the nicotine in the leaves deter most insects and pests from munching on the leaves. Some varmint took a bite out of a leaf and spit it out, I believe it was a deer.

There is a variety of Nicotiana alata called Sensation which grows around 3 feet tall and is bushier. Then there are the Nicotiana sanderae which are the common greenhouse bedding plants growing around 15 inches tall with bright colored flowers.