Jasmine Nicotiana is a fast-growing, heirloom flowering tobacco that transforms evening gardens with clouds of sweetly scented blooms throughout summer. Growing 36 to 60 inches tall with an upright habit, this open-pollinated variety reaches maturity in 70 to 130 days and thrives in hardiness zones 10 through 11. Its tall, graceful form and intensely fragrant flowers make it a captivating choice for moonlit borders, containers, and flower beds where you can fully appreciate its nocturnal perfume.
Partial Sun
Moderate
10-11
60in H x ?in W
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Moderate
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The real draw is the nocturnal fragrance, a delicate jasmine-like scent that intensifies as evening falls, drawing the garden to life when most other flowers have closed. This heirloom performs beautifully in containers as well as garden plots, giving gardeners flexibility in how they incorporate it into their space. The upright growth habit and prolific flowering through the summer months mean you'll have abundant blooms to enjoy, and the variety's resistance to tobacco mosaic virus and deer herbivory eliminates two common challenges.
Jasmine Nicotiana is grown purely for its ornamental and fragrant qualities. Gardeners use it to create fragrant evening gardens, planting it in borders where the nocturnal scent can be enjoyed from patios or windows. It thrives in containers placed near seating areas, allowing the sweet jasmine-like fragrance to perfume the air during summer nights. The tall, upright stems with abundant flowers also make it suitable for cutting to bring fragrance indoors, though its primary value lies in its sensory appeal as a living flowering plant.
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Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost date. Maintain soil temperature between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit for reliable germination. Transplant seedlings into larger containers once they develop their first true leaves.
Harden off seedlings by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions over 7 to 10 days before transplanting. Move them outdoors only after all danger of frost has passed and soil has warmed. Space transplants 24 inches apart in rows 60 inches apart.
Direct sow seeds after your last frost date when soil has warmed to at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Scatter seeds on the soil surface or press them lightly into place, as light aids germination.
No formal pruning is required for Jasmine Nicotiana. Its natural upright growth habit maintains an attractive form throughout the season. You may remove spent flower clusters to encourage continued blooming, though the plant will produce flowers continuously through summer without intervention.
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“Nicotiana alata is an heirloom flowering tobacco with roots in South America, cultivated for centuries as an ornamental rather than a commercial crop. This open-pollinated Jasmine variety represents a preservation of traditional seed-saving practices, passed through generations of gardeners who valued its evening fragrance and elegant form. Its journey to modern seed catalogs reflects the broader heirloom movement, where gardeners actively seek out historic varieties that connect them to botanical traditions and the stories of those who saved these seeds before them.”