Woodland nicotiana-Nicotiana sylvestris

Only the Lonely- -Nicotiana sylvestris

By Kim Willis These articles are copyrighted and may not be copied or used without the permission of the author.

Only the lonely flowers

Flowers that bloom in late summer and through fall are always welcome and Only the Lonely, also called woodland nicotiana, star flower or flowering tobacco, is an annual flower every gardener should make room for.  This stately native of South America was all the rage in North American and English gardens in the early 1900’s.  It’s not seen as often today but it surely deserves more widespread attention.

 I try to have some woodland nicotiana in my garden each year.  It can take up quite a bit of room but the lovely white fall flowers with their wonderful scent are worth it. It’s a plant that usually reseeds itself but I collect seeds each year and start a few plants just in case.

Anyone who has seen tobacco grow will know what its close relative ‘Only the Lonely’ looks like.  The leaves are broad, light green and huge, sometimes 2 feet or more long and a foot across.  The leaves clasp the stem and have a sticky feel to them. Plants can grow 8 feet tall in ideal conditions and 3 feet wide but usually are about 3-4 feet high with flower stalks adding some additional height.

The flowers of woodland nicotiana are long shiny white trumpets with a ‘star” flare on the end.  They dangle in clusters from stalks above the foliage.  In the evening their sweet scent floats across the garden.  The flowers remain open all day and make an impressive display. Plants begin blooming in late summer- August here- and they will continue to bloom until a hard freeze.

Gardeners can sometimes find plants for sale but Nicotiana sylvestris is easy to grow from seed.  Sprinkle the very tiny black seeds on top of moist potting medium in late spring. Sprinkle them thinly- that’s the hard part.  My pots usually end up so thick with seedlings they are hard to separate.  Press the seed lightly into the soil but don’t cover.  They need warmth to germinate.  Plants are slow growers until after the summer solstice, when shortening days will cause them to grow rapidly. 

You can sow seeds where they are to grow after the last frost- and  Nicotiana sylvestris often pops up from seed on its own- but in the spring and early summer plant growth is so slow that the little Only the Lonely plants are often overpowered by other plants or pulled as weeds.  I like to keep them in 4 inch pots until early summer, and then plant them in the garden with a marker.

 Only the Lonely likes full sun, (it will grow in partial shade but be smaller) warmth and moisture.  They’ll grow in any soil and being a member of the tobacco family they have few pests.  Deer and rabbits don’t bother them.  Just make sure to give them plenty of room.

Caution- all parts of the plant are poisonous. Some people have smoked the leaves of this plant after drying them like commercial tobacco but the leaves have more nicotine than regular tobacco and nicotine is a poison.  The plant also has other toxic chemicals.  I would not advise smoking it.

Only the Lonely is lovely in moon gardens and outstanding if you like fragrant plants.  It’s a plant you use for visual interest with its huge leaves and large towers of dangling white flowers.  If you like unusual plants and heirloom type flowers woodland nicotiana will be ideal for your garden.