Hi Sodbuster!

When the subject of moonflowers comes up on the forum, there's usually someone who wants seed and doesn't have any, so you might want to save some to swap with someone in the future.

About the seed pods....mine scatter themselves around and reseed themselves here and there every year. I think there's only been one year since we moved here that I had to deliberately plant some seed in a particular location on purpose because they had failed to reseed themselves.

Isn't it amazing that something as lovely as the moonflower is so easy to grow? Here at our house, the sphinx moths simply love them so we always get to see the moths when the moonflowers are blooming!

Dawn

Dawn........do you have the yellows and purples too? If so, would you sell me some?

Sodbuster, I want some of the whole pods or a mess of seeds. They are difficult to germinate, but Dawn is right; sphinx moths love them and they are also hosts for the two species of nightshade-eating hornworms.

Just e-mail me.

Tomato_Worm, I would be happy to send you a pod.....I cut a bunch today. I found out the plants produce flowers like crazy after the pods are cut. I also found out that if you are watching the pods in order to remove them at the right time, they are not like okra.......that is, they burst, then turn brown. I thought they turned brown, then burst. I also found out there are about 300 seeds to a pod. Yes, I counted them.

Okay, I'm confused. Are you talking about datura or morning glory? Or, something altogether different?

Susan

Datura has the seed pods. Moonflowers have seeds about the size of a small pea. Morning glory has a much smaller seed.
Experts, is this correct??

Correct, Debbie. I have also counted Datura seeds just to pass time and answer my curiosity. I can relate to what you are saying, Sodbuster about ripe pods. I pick my seed okra pods when they brown. I also knew jimson weed seeds are coal black, not medium brown. I lost my chance to harvest Datura seeds years ago, because i waited for ripe BROWN pods. Needless to say, I only got a few seeds and threw them away because they did not even look ripe. I wonder if my former home in Republic, KS has any Datura in the yard from those discarded seeds collected in nearby Belleville.

Is this what your flower looks like?

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and the plant:

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how about the seed:

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Anyway, that is the plant I have and call a moonflower. Look at the future flowers (pods) in the second picture. They will flower either tomorrow, or the day after.

I usually cut the seed pods off, as soon as they appear, but a lot of time I get them ahead of that, cause I cut the flowers off often right after they finish blooming.

This plant is taller then any I ever had. Like you, I did not plant it. It was a volunteer. :)

I love volunteers.

Moni

OklaMoni.......that is what my plants look like. I wait until the pods look like they are as big as they will get, then cut them off.....otherwise I wouldn't think the seeds have matured.

I met a person today online and he sent me a pic of the purple moonflower and will send me a pic of the yellow tomorrow. This is his first year to have the yellows. I'm hoping he will sell me some of those pods. The purple is beautiful and no reason to think otherwise with regard to the yellows.

Yup, that's datura.
The other Moonflower is a true twining vine with big, fat, white seeds that have to be soaked/nicked in order to germinate. The seed pods are purple.
I've had both. Datura is a weedy, rangy shrub like plant, will grow and self seed anywhere or everywhere, and can grow quite large and sprawling. There are forms of datura all over the world. All parts of this plant are poisonous and some parts and products are used in religious ceremonies for their hallucinagenic properties. In some areas of the world, they still use the juice of the plant to dilate the pupil of the eye for eye exams. I accidently got some juice in my eye once while deadheading on a hot, humid day and can testify first hand that it works!
Moonflower vine is a definite annual, not so easy to grow, and doesn't self seed.
Both are night bloomers and beautiful.
Another big trumpeted night bloomer is brugmansia, which is more tree like. I have one in a 20 gallon pot. The brug blooms in the evening or early morning and is more tree like. I move it into the garage for the winter, root and top prune it in spring, and have been owned by it for about four or five years.
Datura blooms face upward, so the plant is sometimes called devil's trumpet.
Brugmansia blooms hang down, so the plant is sometimes called angel's trumpet.
Interesting, these common names--and confusing at times.

Thanks OKC1 for giving me another name for what I call moonflower. Now, is this its botanical name?

SodBuster I usually cut the seeds off early, as I really don't want to chance it and get "hundreds" of those plants the following year.

I had to really hunt to find a seed pod when I took those pictures yesterday evening.

Like I said, not sure where this came from...

The area was bermuda grass when we moved in. I am digging it out. Slow progress, but the mowing area "is smaller" this year then last fall when we moved in.

I much prefer to take care of flower bed areas then to mow.

Moni

My neighbor, who gave me the compost having last years seed in it, had literally hundreds of young plants coming up from those seed. He offered me more plants, but I did not want to appear greedy, especially after taking six big loads of his compost. I put in four new beds this year and with each of them I used his compost. Needless to say I have a ton of these beauties.

Well, my neighbor needed to prepare his vegatable garden, so he pulled up, almost, all of them. See,I should have taken some more!! Last year, at the end of the season, he pulled all his Moonflower plants, with pods attached, and threw them on his burn pile. This year the seeds GREW and his wife won't let him burn until the end of this season. She loves the plants too. Now, you cannot see his burn pile, it just looks like a big pile of beautiful plants and flowers. At night, when the glow of my security light hits that mound of white flowers, it is breath taking!

Also, in that compost, I got another surprise. It's something his wife calls a Spider Flower or Spider Lilly........something like that anyway, but what a magnificent looking plant and flower.

OklaMoni, that second pic is beautiful. Almost looks as if you could reach out and toucn the plants. The picture, itself, is as beautiful as the plant. Great job!!

The spider flower you refer to is probably cleome. And, regard to the datura seeds, they have to be left on the plant to ripen before they will be viable. The pod eventually gets very large and round and will turn brown, and then the seeds is ripe.

Susan

I only have the white moonflower, I mean Datura. ;)

Never had a colored moonplant. I purposely destroy the seeds. Way to many plants otherwise next year.

You have to remember, what is a plant for some, might be a weed for others.

Moni

A warning to vegetable gardeners, do not use composted Datura, as it is a common source of Early Blight for both tomatoes and potatoes.
I found out the hard way.

The other moonflower vine that you speak of is in the ipomea (or morning glory) family. I'd really love to have some of the yellow flowering.

Susan

Susan is right about the Ipomoea. I want to grow some morning glories in hope of drawing in some of the beautiful pink-spotted sphinx. Their larvae are every bit as beautiful as the moths!

Yes, Sod, that's just what I need--HUNDREDS of Datura starts to grow the long border. It doesn't matter if it's just the common white species. I especially like the night-blooming whites for the sphinxes.

Tomato_Worm...............I have not forgotten you. I am waiting until the pods are good and dry. They HAVE opened tho. I received my colored ones today!