I was recently asked if I would like a Datura Metaloides that a friend had to spare.  Like most gardeners, my immediate reaction was to accept the plant.  Even when I was warned to wear gloves whilst touching it, the alarm bells didn’t start to ring, I just acknowledged that I had heard that before.

I first came across Datura in my brother-in-law’s house in California and those lovely trumpet flowers had stayed in my mind.  So the opportunity to have one of my own seemed like a great idea.  I was assured that the donor had found them to be hardy locally and that Metaloides were not as large as some Datura, growing to around four or five feet.  So the next time she visited, the plant duly arrived.

Fortunately, the plant was placed on a table and was at no time anywhere near a dog’s reach.  After my friend left, I went searching on the plant to decide where it should be planted.  There it was, in black and white – all parts of the plant are poisonous.  There was absolutely no way I could risk it in the garden.

I then started to think who I could give the plant to – well, no gardener would willingly put a perfectly healthy plant in the compost bin.   However hard I tried, everyone I could think of had either dogs or cats.  It looked as if the plant was destined for a very short life.  Then suddenly my brain worked out the solution – the front garden was the perfect place, and there was a suitable location just waiting to be filled at the end of the new border.  Problem solved :).