In Kentucky I had several moonflowers and I loved having them, though they definitely kept us from walking around barefooted near them. Their seed balls turn into something similar to a giant grass burr. In the spring, there was a man selling potted moonflowers at the Farmers’ Market. I bought two but knowing they’re poisonous, I put them in pots til we had the fencing situation figured out. I’ll have to plant the moonflowers outside the fence so Oscar doesn’t nibble on them but for now, since he’s always on a leash, they’re still in the back yard.
I’ve been waiting and waiting for it to bloom and the first bloom has been getting closer and closer to opening. Last night I showed it to Vince and said “Let’s come out later tonight and look at it.”
When we went out with both dogs late last night, I thought . . it almost smells like a mosquito truck has been by and sprayed but I doubted there was one that came out here. Vince said “It smells a bit like lemon out here.” Neither of us thought about the moonflower.
This morning we were both out with the dogs before daylight and it smelled like a lemony fresh perfume. I told Vince “It smells good out here!” He said “It smells like perfume but where would that be coming from.” Still neither of us thought about the moonflower blossom.
About 10 a.m., I went out with Oscar and saw the wilted bloom. Dang it . . we missed our first moonflower blossom.
It can be a bit invasive but I don’t mind things that grow from seeds. I can pull those as they come up. I dislike the plants that spread by runners or roots. I can never control those. I’ll keep the pots where they are for now but as the seed balls begin to look dry, I’ll either cut them off and save them or move the pots to where I want to have seeds and stir up the dirt so the seeds can get buried easily and sprout next year.
There’s probably close to 100 more buds on this little plant so hopefully I’ll get to see some of the flowers.
PamO says
We had them when I was a kid decades ago. Great night flower.
Dorothy Matheson says
Datura and mine just bloomed earlier this week. I had at least 5 blossoms and I have more but I do have several plants.
Jean says
What it looks like you have is Datura. We got rid of ours after learning it was poisonous and could cause death if ingested. Moonflower scent is soft, feminine, sweet like a ladies expensive and understated delicate perfume. The flower comes at dusk and lasts all night, and it is the best time to observe them, and to smell the heavenly perfume they give off. They bloom all night
and begin to fade sometime in the morning. The flower is similar to a giant morning glory, quite large. Always white, color and time of blooming give them their name, Moonflower. They are also a very vigorous climber and with the right amount of water will run rampant. Either to sprawl on the ground in a large area or to be grown on a very STOUT trellis. The seed pod you describe is like our datura pods. The moonflower has dark, smallish seeds, but are not tiny, won’t hurt your feet, and are easily seen and planted. The leaves of Datura and Moonflower are also very different from each other. They are an annual but can readily reseed themselves in the right spot. Don’t usually comment, but do love your blog and am now considering a Nesco Electric Canner.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
It’s a Moonflower. The genus name for Moonflower is Datura.
Here’s what BHG has to say about the seeds of the moonflower/datura: As the life of the beautiful white blooms comes to an end, a thorny pod begins to develop. Initially, the thorns are soft, but as they age and expand, they’ll become hard and sharp. Once they’re ripe, the pods will burst open and drop hundreds of seeds for next year’s growth.
Nelle Coursey says
I love Moonflowers!
Jean says
Seems I need to do some research on my “moonflowers” and find out what they really are. The packets of seeds always say moonflowers. Thanks for the heads up.
Jean says
Just put “datura vs moonflower” in my search engine and found some interesting info. Seems a type of datura is called moonflower and moonflower is also the common name for the flower I was trying to describe to you. Who knew? I didn’t read far. My bedtime. But I plan to read up more on these two flowers. Makes gardening more fun!
Jean says
Using your BHG link, I went to gardening section and typed in vining moonflower. Great explanation of the difference between the two plants.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
The guy who is helping us with our landscaping gets very frustrated at people using common names for plants but there’s no way I could ever learn the genus and species name for every plant. He says it leads to so much confusion.
I know just enough about plants to know there’s a whole lot I don’t know and several times there have been plants I’ve called one thing because that’s why others I’ve been around have called it and then I find out it’s something else. That’s why I went and looked it up when you first wrote. I had bought “moonflower” seeds in Kentucky and had something very similar to what I have now and the man at the Farmers’ Market here called them moonflowers but neither of those things guarantees they’re really moonflowers.
Jean says
I agree. If you ever find a packet of vining “moonflower” seeds I highly recommend trying them at least once. The flowers are large and beautiful, and the aroma is intoxicatingly lovely. My second favorite scent in a flower is the pastel pink Sarah Bernhardt peony, along with it’s large frilly blossoms. OK, I will talk on this no more. (big grin)
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I would love to have several varieties so I will look for them. Thanks!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I’ve never grown peonies but we planted three varieties last year and when they bloomed this year, I was disappointed that two of them had no fragrance. One was amazing! I’ll watch for Sarah Bernhardt in the spring. I love things that smell good. Thanks for that recommendation too and you’re welcome to talk on this as much as you like.
Donna in KS says
We had moonflowers at one of our earliest homes and enjoyed them. I started to put some seeds out at the home we lived in for 40+ years and the next-door neighbor threatened all kinds of things if we planted them where we wanted to, our side of the fence. Should have told us how the next 40 years were going to go! I may look for seeds next spring. We had peonies there which were beautiful, and husband loved bringing bouquets in to me. Scented the whole house, wonderful
judy.blog@gmail.com says
We bought the peonies at the end of the season last year. They were marked way down and we doubted they would survive but all three did and had beautiful blooms this year.
Twyla says
Oh! I have always loved the moonflower. I haven’t grown them in a while but once a plant had 64 blossoms on it one night. Just beautiful. And I have grown the moonflower vine from a packet I got from a nursery and they are different.