Growing Nicotiana (Flowering Tobacco): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Nicotiana is an ornamental relative of cultivated tobacco, grown for trumpet-shaped flowers with a fragrance that gets noticeably stronger in the evening, making it a good choice near a porch or patio where people sit after dark.
Starting it
Transplanting is the method to use: start seed indoors 5 to 6 weeks before your last frost, pressing it into the growing medium or leaving it uncovered, since light helps it germinate. Germination takes 7 to 14 days at 72-78°F. Pinch seedlings before transplanting to encourage a bushier, more branched plant. Space plants 12 to 18 inches apart.
A sticky plant with a real caution
Nicotiana’s stems leave a sticky residue on hands and tools, which is a minor nuisance but worth knowing before handling a lot of it at once. More seriously, the plant contains real nicotine, so it’s worth keeping away from anywhere pets or small children are likely to graze.
Harvest for cutting
Cut stems once about half the flowers on a stem have opened, which gives a vase life of 5 to 7 days as the rest continue to open.
Nicotiana has no well-established companion pairings, and nothing it needs to be kept away from. In the Garden Designer, it’s worth placing somewhere people spend evening time, since the fragrance is the main reason to grow it.
Source: Nicotiana (Flowering Tobacco): Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Nicotiana (Flowering Tobacco) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 1.5-3 ft
Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. It needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.
When to plant nicotiana (flowering tobacco), by zone
Every zone nicotiana (flowering tobacco) grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Bloom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2a & 2b | Apr 8–Apr 15 | May 27–Jun 3 | Aug 10–Aug 17 |
| 3a & 3b | Apr 18–Apr 25 | Jun 6–Jun 13 | Aug 20–Aug 27 |
| 4a & 4b | Apr 3–Apr 10 | May 22–May 29 | Aug 5–Aug 12 |
| 5a & 5b | Mar 29–Apr 5 | May 17–May 24 | Jul 31–Aug 7 |
| 6a & 6b | Mar 14–Mar 21 | May 2–May 9 | Jul 16–Jul 23 |
| 7a & 7b | Feb 27–Mar 6 | Apr 17–Apr 24 | Jul 1–Jul 8 |
| 8a & 8b | Feb 11–Feb 18 | Apr 1–Apr 8 | Jun 15–Jun 22 |
| 9a & 9b | Jan 4–Jan 11 | Feb 22–Mar 1 | May 8–May 15 |
| 10a & 10b | Dec 19–Dec 26 | Feb 6–Feb 13 | Apr 22–Apr 29 |
| 11a & 11b | Nov 20–Nov 27 | Jan 8–Jan 15 | Mar 24–Mar 31 |
Bloom dates are about 75 days after the sow or plant-out date, not after starting seeds indoors.
Zone 2 sows before zone 3 here, which looks wrong and is not. USDA zones rank winter cold, not season length, and zone 2 is mostly interior Alaska, where hard winters come with warm summers. More on what a zone measures.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Nicotiana (Flowering Tobacco) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1.5-3 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- Straight-species nicotiana (Nicotiana alata): Johnny's Selected Seeds sells this species in a range of colors and heights bred for garden and cut-flower use; the growing requirements are consistent across them, so the species itself covers what matters for care. (source)
- 'Starlight Dancer' nicotiana (best for: evening fragrance display): Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this as having elegant nodding, ivory blooms on tall, sturdy stems, a strong choice for the classic evening-fragrance nicotiana look. (source)
- 'Bronze Queen' nicotiana (best for: unusual color): Johnny's Selected Seeds lists this as a unique chocolate-colored selection, a distinct option from the typical white or pink nicotiana shades. (source) Buy seeds: Botanical Interests
Why each variety is listed comes from the source shown next to it. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement. The buy links are separate from those sources: they go to seed suppliers that sell that exact variety, and we may earn a commission on some of them.
Where to buy nicotiana seeds
Botanical Interests · True Leaf Market · Burpee · High Mowing Organic Seeds (each supplier's nicotiana seeds)
The varieties we recommend above each have their own buy links, for the suppliers that sell that exact variety.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a clear consensus of positive, independent reviews, or ones we bought and use ourselves. Each item on our gear page says which.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing nicotiana (flowering tobacco)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
%3A%20An%20ornamental%20tobacco%20relative%20grown%20for%20trumpet-shaped%20flowers%20that%20turn%20up%20their%20fragrance%20in%20the%20evening%2C%20when%20most%20cutting-garden%20flowers%20have%20gone%20quiet.)
Pin this for later
Growing Nicotiana (Flowering Tobacco): An ornamental tobacco relative grown for trumpet-shaped flowers that turn up their fragrance in the evening, when most cutting-garden flowers have gone quiet.
Save to Pinterest