Growing Your Own Tobacco

(Backyard Botanist) In spite of this weekend's snow and cold, spring is here in Chicago, and the last frost will probably be in early May. That, along with the longer days, sunshine and warmer weather, means local gardeners are getting ready for planting season. And for those of us that grow tobacco, now is the time to get the plants ready. A relative of the tomato, tobacco is a fun and easy plant to grow, if cared for properly. In spite of its associations with the South and the Caribbean, tobacco can be raised in climates even farther north than Chicago. If you can grow tomatoes, you can grow tobacco. And even if you don't smoke, tobacco is an interesting, attractive plant, and will flower later in the summer, and will be fragrant in the afternoon. Continued

Photo: Henryk Kotowski, some rights reserved.