Flowering tobacco

Many types of nicotiana are terrifically fragrant (especially at night) and are wonderful in attracting hummingbirds as well as fascinating hummingbird moths.

There are several types of nicotiana, also called flowering tobacco since it's a cousin of the regular tobacco plant. Try the shorter, more colorful types in containers or the front of beds or borders. The taller white-only types, which can reach 5 feet, are dramatic in the back of borders. And they're ideal for night gardens since they're usually most fragrant at dusk. These plants do best in full sun and moist, well-drained soil and may reseed.

Light:

Sun

Plant Type:

Annual

Plant Height:

To 5 feet tall, depending on type

Plant Width:

To 2 feet wide

Landscape Uses:

Containers, Beds & Borders

Special Features:

Flowers, Fragrant, Fall Color, Attracts Hummingbirds, Attracts Butterflies, Easy to Grow

Top Varieties

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Jasmine tobacco

(Nicotiana alata) bears clusters of fragrant greenish-yellow flowers on 5-foot-tall stems. Perennial in Zones 10-11, but usually grown as an annual.
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Domino flowering tobacco

(Nicotiana 'Domino Series') bears flowers in shades of red, white, pink, and rose on 14-inch-tall plants.
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Nicotiana langsdorffii

Nicotiana langsdorffii offers nodding clusters of green flowers on 5-foot-tall stems.
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Lime Green flowering tobacco

(Nicotiana 'Lime Green') bears chartreuse star-shape flowers on 2-foot-tall plants.
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Nicotiana mutabilis

Nicotiana mutabilis bears trumpet-shape flowers that open white and mature to rich, rose pink on 4-foot-tall plants. Perennial in Zones 9-11, but usually grown as an annual.
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Nicki Red flowering tobacco

(Nicotiana 'Nicki Red') bears richly fragrant red flowers on 18-inch-tall plants.
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Purfume Deep Purple flowering tobacco

(Nicotiana 'Perfume Deep Purple') is an award-winning selection that bears rich purple flowers on 2-foot-tall plants.
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Nicotiana sylvestris

Nicotiana sylvestris bears clusters of fragrant, white, trumpet-shape flowers on plants to 5 feet tall. Perennial in Zones 10-11, but usually grown as an annual.
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