Have you ever seen these before? They are called Moonflowers. A friend gave me some seeds a few years ago and I planted them to see what would happen. What happened was they went crazy.
They bloom in the evening, and stay open until early morning. If you're patient, you can actually watch the petals unfold over the course of a few minutes. They have an exquisite smell, but are extremely poisonous. So don't eat them!
I've let them grow wild along part of the fence by the road, where I have my sorely neglected "cottage garden." My futile attempt to make it so beautiful that cars would have to slow down. Ha, good luck, Jen! I'm not sure what will slow people down these days...
6 comments:
i have these!! they take over and you CAN'T get rid of them, they grow this insanely deep tuber type root. i have to ask my mother-in-law what she calls them. their smell is just heavenly, and yes they open at night here too. there was a whole big stink around here years ago because teens were stealing 'something they produce' to make 'something' they used to get high...very very dangerous and very deadly, they are very poisonous. but big beautiful flowers.
Yikes-- maybe I shouldn't let them grow all over!! Dang, and the deer don't eat 'em either. (Not that I want to do in the deer, it's just one of the few things they leave alone!)
these are lovely! what beautiful flowers and so interesting that they bloom during the evening.
thanks for sharing.
I have these, too!
When I was a kid, I lived in New Orleans and we had a family friend who had masses of them. We would all sit out in the yard in lawn chairs and watch them open in the early summer evening. Such a vivid memory - which is why I grow them now. (Although mine are major PUNY compared to yours.)
I love those too. We used to have a lot of them in pots. Did not know they were poisonous though.
Thanks, Lisa!
And what a neat story, Barbara. I love that you all watched them open together.
Yes, Frank, extremely poisonous! It's interesting to hear how many people know of these flowers-- I'd never heard of them until my friend gave me the seeds.
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