Beginner Gardening: moon flower, 1 by glendalekid

glendalekid wrote:
Is this the one you have? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/893/ The pod on this one is smooth, not prickly.

If this is yours, it may be a perennial for you, but it's an annual here. I see in PF it's listed hardy to 10 degrees, but mine have always died the instant they got hit with the first frost. You can soak it for 24 hours to be on the safe side if you only have the one pod. I planted mine about 3 weeks ago just in potting soil in a seed starting tray on my front deck. They came up in 3-4 days and were ready to plant out in two weeks.

I've had no problem growing them in full sun here. They grow very rapidly. It will produce many seed pods. So even if it's not a perennial for you, just collect the seeds pods and plant again next summer. I was late planting mine last year. They only got about 4 feet tall. Planted early in the spring they should get much taller.

Some daturas are referred to as moonflower, which is perennial for some and an annual for others, and a whole different plant. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/96744/ The pod on this one is prickly. I've not planted these yet, but the care would be similar. It would not get very tall, though.

Hope this helps,

Karen

Photo of mine from last year.