A few moments spent photographing the lovely Angel Trumpet flowers in our yard lead to a surprising little discovery. Hubby and I purchased a single plant a few years ago at a small greenhouse near us. Neither of us had seen one before and thought it was so lovely that we had to have it. It grew well the first year, even in our sandy and poor soil, and yielded many prickly seed pods which we harvested to plant the following year. Since then, the plant has spread and grown back on its own, despite being an annual, and despite our wicked winter temps. It's hardy and beautiful.
It's one of my favorite photographic subjects, and out of curiosity I looked it up and found that this lovely and prolific plant goes by the name of Datura, Jimson Weed, and Moonflower, and is poisonous and hallucinogenic. All parts of it. Yikes.
I have small children at home and though they've never bothered with the plant, I can't help but wonder if we should pull them. To put thing in perspective though, we have a lot of poisonous plants around here... and dangerous things like bears and whatnot (it is the woods after all) so I'm not quite in panic mode.
It does make me wonder if this hallucinogenic quality is why the little green frogs love to hang out on it so much...
Clearly this little couple find them rather moving.
It does make me wonder if this hallucinogenic quality is why the little green frogs love to hang out on it so much...
Clearly this little couple find them rather moving.
You may recognize that Georgia O'Keeffe did a number of paintings of these plants.
Poisonous or not, they are beautiful though, aren't they?
8 comments:
I loveeeee pictures with rain spots:)
Quite the interesting pic for your last choice, the things you manage to catch with your camera are unreal! lol
Love the facelift your blog has taken, very pretty!
I have an Angel's Trumpet in our front yard. It comes back each year but has never flowered. I bought it at a discount because the man selling it couldn't remember what color it was. I've been desperate to find out.
I also bought a Devil's Trumpet (a deep black-purple version of the Angel). It never got very large, but actually flowered. Alas, it hasn't come back this year.
It is my opinion that having poisonous plants in your yard increases the learning opportunities - at least for us. I have little boys and plants are always much more interesting to learn about if they're "dangerous." I think the important thing is to teach your kids not to put plants that aren't easily identifiable as safe into their mouths.
Also. Those are *gorgeous* photos! And I'm babbling. (:
Very pretty! I've never planted them because I was told they were poisonous. Not good with my little flower pickers you know. I'll just enjoy your pics. :)
just don't let the kids eat them and they'll be fine. they're too pretty to pull them up!
I didn't know that Angel Trumpet was also called Moonflower.....I know Moonflower to be like a Morning Glory...only it blooms in the evening.....if your children aren't prone to eating plants....I'd leave them. Too pretty to destroy and the flies love them so!!!! :)
Your photographs are amazing! I am sure here, its less the camera and more the skill of its photographer! I am also smitten with the recent photos you have in your shop, so beautiful and the lighting is just right, moody and reflective: perfect for your fiber art:) Your work is lovely Lisa:)
just gorgeous lisa
This is a weed in our orchard. Beautiful but boy does it spread here in the west!
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