Flowering Tobacco

Flowering tobacco carries loose clusters of tubular, star-shaped flowers on tall, slightly sticky stems from midsummer clear through to frost. Native to South America (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay), it's grown as a tender annual everywhere outside the tropics. Many cultivars close their flowers during the heat of the day and reopen in late afternoon and evening, releasing a strong, sweet fragrance that draws hawkmoths and hummingbirds — a plant best sited near a porch, path, or window where the evening scent can be appreciated.

It's an easy annual from seed but slow to start, so most gardeners begin indoors well ahead of the last frost; seed needs light to germinate and shouldn't be covered. It tolerates part shade better than most flowering annuals and keeps blooming through summer heat with only light deadheading. As a member of the tobacco genus it's rarely browsed by deer or rabbits.