Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Won't grow here

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Won't grow here

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

✕

Out of range today and still out of range in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 25 ecoregions — 18 climate-resilient through 2070 · 7 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.

Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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California coastal sage and chaparral

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

Eastern Australian temperate forests

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Fynbos shrubland

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Klamath-Siskiyou forests

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Mississippi lowland forests

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

120"

Habit

Large, fast-growing soft-wooded shrub or small tree carrying enormous (up to 12-inch) pendulous, night-fragrant white-to-blush trumpet flowers; frost-tender and thirsty in warmth, and HIGHLY TOXIC in every part.

Care tips

•

Treat its toxicity as the first rule: every part is highly toxic, so site it well away from children and pets and never let it near anything used for food or foraging.

•

Keep it warm, well watered, and well fed — it grows fast and thirsty in heat and rewards rich soil and steady moisture with heavy bloom.

•

In cold-winter areas grow it in a large pot and overwinter it under cover; it is frost-tender and cold will cut it back or kill it.

Lifecycle

Planting

Plant in spring once the soil is warm, in full sun to part shade and rich, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil. In cold-winter areas grow it in a large container so it can be moved under cover; site it well away from children and pets because every part is toxic.

Transplanting

Set out young plants or rooted cuttings after all frost danger has passed; container plants are moved out for the warm season and brought back under cover before the first frost.

Early growth

Grows fast and thirsty in warmth — keep it well watered and feed regularly through the growing season to fuel the big leaves and heavy bloom. Pinch or lightly prune young plants to build a fuller framework.

Maturity

Matures quickly into a large soft-wooded shrub or small tree (roughly 10-15 feet) that flowers in repeated flushes through the warm season. It is frost-tender, so growth is cut back or killed by cold; in marginal climates treat it as a container or overwintered plant.

Propagation

Easily propagated from stem cuttings, which root readily in warmth; can also be grown from seed. Wear gloves and wash up afterwards, as the sap and all plant parts are toxic.

Pollination

Pollination not applicable

Pollinated at night by long-tongued hawkmoths (Sphingidae), which are drawn to the intense evening fragrance and probe the long pendulous trumpets for nectar. Because it is Extinct in the Wild and grown only in cultivation, garden flowering is enjoyed for its display and scent rather than for fruit or seed set.

Plants don't grow alone

Nectar forage

Moth

Hawkmoths (Sphingidae (family-level entry))

Long-tongued hawkmoths are the documented pollinators: drawn at night by the intense fragrance, they hover at the long pendulous white trumpets and probe them for nectar.

Nectar forage

Bee

European honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Honey bees may opportunistically visit the open trumpets for nectar by day, but the flower is built for night-flying hawkmoths rather than bees.

For people

Toxic — do not consume

HIGHLY TOXIC — do not eat any part. Every part of the plant is loaded with tropane alkaloids (scopolamine, atropine, hyoscyamine), and ingestion can cause severe poisoning, delirium, and death. Never plant it where children or pets could reach it, keep it out of areas used for foraging, and wear gloves and wash up after handling or pruning. Treat all reported 'uses' as dangerous, not culinary or medicinal.

Climate notes

•

USDA hardiness zones 9b-11b; native to the Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil (POWO, Kew; Flora e Funga do Brasil).

•

Classified Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN — Brugmansia suaveolens now survives only in cultivation, so this familiar garden plant is also a striking conservation story (IUCN).

•

Frost-tender (roughly zone 9b and warmer): cold cuts it back or kills it, so in cold-winter areas grow it in a large container and overwinter it under cover.

•

Fast and thirsty in warmth — it wants steady moisture, rich feeding, and a sheltered, sunny-to-part-shade spot to fuel its big leaves and heavy flowering.

In the designer

Growth over time

120-180" tall · 96-144" spread

Full size as a large shrub or small tree, 10-15 feet tall and 8-12 feet wide where it is hardy and unchecked by frost.

Design roles: Focal point · Structure

Angel's trumpet

At a glance

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Climate notes

In the designer

Sources & citations