I was looking for something new to plant in the back of my flowerbeds, so I decided to give ‘Whisper Mix’ nicotiana a try.
This new nicotiana (flowering tobacco) grows 3 to 4 feet tall with flowers that open white and gradually change from pink to dark rose.
The plants are extremely disease resistant. I grew them in both full sun and partial shade and they thrived with little care. A few aphids appeared on some of the flower stalks, but they didn’t affect the plant’s performance.
Like other nicotianas, ‘Whisper Mix’ will bloom throughout the summer, but you’ll need to cut back the flowers after the first flush of blooms. With shorter nicotiana cultivars, I usually shear off all the flowers at once and wait 2 or 3 weeks for the plants to rebloom. Because ‘Whisper Mix’ is so tall I was able to select which flower stalks to cut. I staggered my cuts so the plants were always in bloom.
Because the flower stalks are open and airy, you could plant them almost anywhere in a flower border, even the front. I usually use tall zinnias at the back of my borders, but they get so tall and thick that I can’t see the flowerbeds behind them. I liked that I was able to see right through ‘Whisper Mix’.
As an added bonus, ‘Whisper Mix’ is utterly irresistible to hummingbirds. I’ve grown nicotianas for years and I’ve never seen hummingbirds pay them any attention, but they were attracted like a magnet to ‘Whisper Mix.’
