Plant library · Annual Flowers
Nicotiana alata
Flowering tobacco is a tall annual for summer-to-fall planting, reaching about 3 feet high and 1 1/2 feet wide. Its tubular flowers carry evening fragrance, making it especially useful where the garden is experienced late in the day. Use it as a vertical flowering layer rather than a low border plant, leaving shorter annuals or edging in front so the stems and blooms remain visible.
Place flowering tobacco toward the middle or back of a sunny border, or repeat it in a broad drift where its upright stems can rise above lower planting. It is well suited to beds beside a patio, deck, or evening path; keep the planting close enough to enjoy after dusk without letting its mature spread pinch the route. In exposed spots, give taller plants a sheltered position or discreet support before stems lengthen.[1][2]
Set plants 1 foot apart, center to center, for a continuous planting. Each plant can finish about 1 1/2 feet wide, so this spacing allows neighboring plants to knit together rather than stand as isolated clumps. Reserve the outside edge of the bed for access, especially beside seating or a narrow walk, and avoid placing the first row where mature stems will lean into circulation space.
Give flowering tobacco a full-sun position and moderate, regular water through the growing season. A fertile, moist but well-drained bed supports a fuller planting without leaving roots in persistently wet ground. Where summer heat is especially intense, afternoon shade can help the display hold longer, but plan for sun as the main light condition.[1][2]
This annual occupies its space from summer into fall, so it can anchor a warm-season border after spring displays have cleared. Its flowers are most useful in areas visited in the evening, when their fragrance becomes part of the garden’s atmosphere. Leave enough room around the clump for neighboring plants to develop without covering its tall stems later in the season.
In hot-summer locations, flowering can fade during the strongest heat, so avoid relying on it as the only late-season feature in a prominent bed. Keep it away from vegetable beds containing tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, or potatoes, which share vulnerability to certain viruses. A sheltered location also reduces the chance that taller stems will need intervention after summer storms.[1][2]
Editorial content updated 2026-07-20.