BOOK REVIEWS

Brugmansia and Datura
Angel's Trumpets and Thorn Apples

Ulrike and Hans-Georg Preissel
David Bateman
$NZ39.95

WITH their spectacular hanging flowers, Brugmansias and Datura - or Angel's Trumpets and Thorn Apples, as they are also known - are amazing plants for frost-free gardens or sunny conservatories.

This book, by two German experts, is the first comprehensive growing guide published in English. It relates their fascinating history and folklore (Brugmansias are still used for medicinal purposes by many South American Indian tribes), shows how to propagate them from cuttings, pots, which diseases and pests can cause nasty problems and how to care for plants confined to life in large or small containers.

There are more than 100 photographs of the many different varieties grown by enthusiastic gardeners around the world.

Brugmansia and Datura is a good read, even if you've never grown them before. Perhaps it would make a good gift for gardeners with a taste for the unusual.

Weekend Gardener, Issue 88, December 13-27, 2001, Page 30

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH