Canadian Gardening: What's Happening in Your neighborhood-visit with friends #15, 1 by Tallulah_B

Tallulah_B wrote:
Yes, Daturas are toxic (hence the name Datura Inoxia!) so you don't want them near pets (but people grow pointsettias and they're very toxic too...).

They're not hard to grow at all (self seed, and don't plant 'em - I got 40 of 'em last year from one seed pod by just sprinking them around the ground).
They grow wild in arid parts of the States (texas, etc) and become a bush there.
Mine grow 3 1/2 ft tall in a season, but die with the cold. They don't like too hot for too long cuz they droop & pick up again come evening. Last year we had 30c+ and they drooped alot. Shank of the evening and they perked up again.
It's pretty dry in Calgary, so I water them a fair bit - more than you'd think, seeing as how they are perennials in the dry state of Texas, but maybe that's because they're perennials and their root system is very deep. As an annual I wouldn't expect it would be.
You can plant it in a pot outside, and bring it in to overwinter. I've seen very big plants where people have done that. Grow to 6 ft tall, and about 2 1/2 ft wide.
Mine were very prolific bloomers a couple of years ago.
Here's a collage of one of last year's plants - Datura Ballerina Metel

Susan