CESTRUM PARQUI

Description

Amidst light green shiny leaves arise sprays of small, tubular, very fragrant, yellow-green flowers on the ends of the stems, flowering from late spring to autumn, and which produce clusters of small, black, egg-shaped berries during summer and autumn. This easy, hardy, evergreen shrub is quite possibly the hardiest and longest blooming Cestrum of them all, as it perfumes the night for many months. In cooler countries it attracts bees and butterflies, and in the Americas, hummingbirds! In 2004 this species made the Royal Horticultural Society’s list of the top 200 plants of the last 200 years. Warning, all parts of this plant are poisonous, but so are a good percentage of many garden plants!

Sowing Advice

These seeds have already been thoroughly cleaned and cold-stored for several months. They should be sown into well-drained, sandy compost at any time of the year, and covered to their own depth with sand or grit. No artificial heat is needed; the seed tray is best left in a cool spot outside and kept moist. Seeds usually germinate in the spring after a chilling in the cold compost, regardless of when they are sown.

Key Facts