Mystery Week concludes with one of the best flowers ever. Seriously, if you all could smell it right now, you’d want to come live here. It’s been blooming pretty much all summer, and it is incrediballs.
Here it is with a tent for scale:
Yep, that is one huge and happy plant! And the reason the tent is out there is because S spent most of October sleeping with it. Those luscious blooms put out a delightful perfume.
I find the scent hard to explain: it’s a bit like the rich, smooth scent of many tropical blooms, but not quite as ponderous. There’s a hint of pollen, and a hint of spice. It’s quite lovely without being overpowering. Which is good, because it has come to live with us in the house now. It’s a summer-loving thing and can’t take the cold.
It lives in the south picture window, and fills the living room with its lovely fragrance. But that only happens at night. During the day, you can’t smell a thing. But as evening falls, you catch a whiff, then the scent gradually strengthens until it fills the large, open room. Even just one or two blooms will perfume the entire space.
I have stood there at night, in the dark, cradling Boo and breathing it in. Then I put Boo down and pick leaves off of her food bowl, because the thing is shedding everywhere. It’ll soon be nothing but bare branches, much like my dad’s rubber tree. Then S can prune it back. It feels like it’s taking up half the living room right now! When things warm up in the spring and it leafs out, it’ll go back outside to live in the sun.
There are more images of this lovely mystery flower here, including some artsy ones of it reflected in our wall o’ mirrors. When you identify it, all of you who love floral scents are going to want one. You can apply to S for a cutting of ours. I think he’s going to have some extras when he gets done pruning this ginormous beauty!
Angel’s trumpet! How suitable for the season. It is also called the Trumpet of Death – I love the juxtaposition of angels and death, very apocalyptic! Apparently it is fragrant in the evenings to attract moths as pollinators, but interestingly,
Anything tubular and red (or bright orange) in colour is usually pollinated by hummingbirds.
Here’s some info on how to care for it. Watch out, it’s highly toxic; I don’t know if any of the cats you live with are plant-nibblers, but don’t let them nibble this one.
I agree, definitely Brugmansia.
Please note: Like many ornamental plants, all parts of Brugmansia can be toxic.
Also, I absolutely LOVE Mystery Flora IV in this post, that luminescent internal shot is just wonderful.
I remember seeing one of those next to the sidewalk on a visit to Seattle some years back. It was the size of a small tree. I have a picture somewhere if I could only find it on one of my old hard drives.
At the time, my grandmother identified it as angel’s trumpet when I got back to Chicago. She probably mentioned it was toxic, but I forgot that part. She was disappointed I didn’t bring back a clipping for her to try to grow.
Everyone beat me to it, but yes, this is definitely Brugmansia and it is definitely toxic! Thought apparently some people make a hallucinogenic tea out of it. It’s all a matter of dosage. It’s a very beautiful plant and I am very, very jealous of your yard.
Gorgeous photos! I’d seen these in gardens in Seattle but was super surprised to see that they grow wild in the highlands of Ecuador.
I’m glad to know the official name. I always just called it “Trumpet Flower”. Angel’s Trumpet is a lot more interesting.
I prefer TRUMPET OF DEATH MWAHAHAHAHAAAAA. ;)
I have pictures of this flower/tree from San Francisco in 2009 (still don’t know how to put a pic in my comment) but it was identified to me as datura. However, I now find that datura flower open upwards, not downwards like angel’s trumpet. So guess my gardener friend was wrong. Still, gorgeous to look at.