Nicotiana (Flowering tobacco) Nicotiana tabacum This is the species from which smoking tobacco was developed yet it's also a valuable garden plant. Many gardeners grow it especially for its foliage, which before the plant runs up to flower makes a bold rosette of large, soft, paddle-shaped flowers. The upward-facing flowers come in various shades of pink and are gathered more tightly than in many species at the top of the stem. Nicotiana tabaccum is especially prone to the highly destructive tobacco blue mould disease, against which fungicides seem ineffectve.. Type: Half-hardy annual (perennial in zone 9 and above) Height: 5-6ft Season: mid summer to first frosts Situation: Full sun to half shade, good soil Nicotiana A-Z   ©copyright 1999 Graham Rice. All Rights Reserved. All Images Digitally Watermarked.