Nicotiana sylvestris is a dramatic ornamental tobacco that commands attention in any garden with its tall, elegant stature and intoxicating evening fragrance. Growing 60 to 72 inches tall, this half-hardy annual produces long, pendulous white tubular flowers that perfume the air after sunset, creating a sensory experience as much as a visual one. Hardy in zones 10 to 11, it reaches maturity in just 70 to 75 days from transplant, making it feasible even for gardeners in shorter growing seasons who start seeds indoors. Easy to grow from seed and suited to containers, raised beds, and garden borders alike, Sylvestris transforms spaces with both elegance and allure.
Partial Sun
Moderate
10-11
72in H x ?in W
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Moderate
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The defining feature of Nicotiana sylvestris is its night fragrance, a sweet, heady perfume that fills the evening garden and makes this tall plant a showstopper in ways that purely visual ornamentals cannot match. Long, drooping white flowers hang with an almost theatrical grace from a strong, upright stem, creating an architecture that works beautifully in borders and cut-flower arrangements. Open-pollinated and heirloom, it germinates reliably indoors at temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, rewarding patient growers with a plant that deer will not touch and that resists Lettuce Septoria.
Nicotiana sylvestris excels as an ornamental specimen in gardens where its evening fragrance can be fully appreciated, particularly near seating areas, pathways, or bedroom windows where the scent drifts through open air after dark. Its tall, dramatic form and elegant white flowers make it exceptional for cut-flower arrangements and borders that need vertical interest without the bulk of a shrub. The plant thrives equally well in containers on patios and in greenhouse cultivation, offering flexibility in how gardeners choose to feature it.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date. Sow on a warm seed-starting medium at temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep soil consistently moist but not waterlogged, and provide bright light once seedlings emerge. Nicotiana sylvestris germinates readily under these conditions and grows quickly into stocky transplants ready for hardening off.
Harden off seedlings over 7 to 10 days by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions, then transplant after the last frost date when soil has warmed. Space plants 18 inches apart in all directions to allow for their eventual 60 to 72-inch height and full, pendulous flower display. Water gently at planting and keep soil consistently moist for the first few weeks as plants establish.
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