I have only one of these plants growing and it is HUGE. I am not sure if I winter sowed it and if I did, I have no idea what it is. I was thinking that it was a moon flower plant, not the vine. Does anyone have any idea? Here are several pictures of it. It is in the corner of one of my raised beds.


The flower


The seed pod


The stalk

Datura

@Horntoad Thanks. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Is it hardy in zone 5a? Does it reseed? If it is Datura, I am not sure where it came from.

A lot of people grow Datura. I believe most are considered annuals. If you let that spikey ball turn brown and start to split open, you can save the seeds to replant were you want next year.

My first thought was maybe Chinese thorn-apple (Datura quercifolia) which occurs in Iowa http://www.iowaplants.com/flor... but I'm not sure because it also looks like Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium)
http://uswildflowers.com/detai... which is found all over the U.S.

Thanks Jay and Lin. I might take a branch of it to the extension office next week and see what they have to say about it. I will post my results. Thanks for your help. I do plan to harvest the seeds before they reseed themselves so I can control where it grows.