Evening Gardens

Looking for thread or to
start one on night bloomers.
Want all your knowledge and
insight on the white night
bloomers. Spend so much time
out doors in the evening it's
a shame not to see and smell
all those bashful flowers
that only come out at night..
looking forward to learning
and growing my Evening Garden.
thanks deller

Hi Deller, Welcome to Daves. If you are looking for fragransed flowers or want to start a tread about them, there is a
Fragrant Gardening forum. you find it under the TAB GardenTalk.
Janett

Moon flowers are a large, white, Morning Glory flower that blooms at night. They grow on vines and will cover a fence or trellis in one season. I haven't researched any other night-bloomers, but I'd be interested in them, also, as I get up WELL before the sun to take care of the animals and such before I drive off to work. I think it would be nice to see some night bloomers around the chicken coop or dog pen this summer.

I've heard of a jasmine,
not sure what kind, also
some kind of vine that has
very small white flowers
which resembles a lit christmas
tree when the moon shines on it...
If only I had paid more attention
at the time.....ever had that happen???ha
Lets keep looking and asking, maybe
by spring we will have the needed
information to start that moonlight
garden...I can't wait....
deller

xx

This message was edited Jan 15, 2006 9:05 PM

xx
still seem to be having some computer trouble...
says web site not responding, then it does....
it's very windy here today, think thats it???

This message was edited Jan 15, 2006 9:27 PM

Did some googling, since you have now piqued my interest.

The flowers listed here are probably too tropical for us, but some of the foliage plants look like they'd survive our zones...

http://www.pallensmith.com/newsletter/2002/news_071802b.htm

"Foliage for an Evening Garden:
Licorice Plant (Helichrysum petiolare) - Silver- gray foliage; perennial; zones 7 - 10 depending on species and variety
Lamb's Ear 'Helen von Stein' (Stachys byzantina) - Silver-gray, wooly, large leaves; perennial; zones 4 - 8
Dusty Miller (Senecio cineraria) - Silver-gray, low growing, upright foliage; annual; zones 8 - 10
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) - Light gray foliage; fresh scent; perennial; zones 5 - 8
Variegated Ribbon Grass (Phalaris arundinacea variegata) - White and green variegated foliage; perennial; zones 4 - 9
Artemisia 'Silver Queen' (Artemisia ludoviciana) - Silver-gray foliage; fresh scent; perennial; zones 4 - 9
Sweet Potato Vine 'Margarita' (Ipomea batatas) - Chartreuse foliage; annual vine/groundcover; zones 9 - 11

Blooms for an Evening Garden:

Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana alata) - Small, white, tubular blooms that open at dusk emitting a strong, jasmine like fragrance; short lived perennials grown as an annual; zones 10 - 11
Moonflower (Ipomoea alba - Large, white blooms on vining plant with heart shaped leaves; lightly perfumed; blooms only at night; annual; zones 9 - 11
Angle's Trumpet (Brugmansia) - Large trumpets hang down from this fast growing tropical plant; highly fragrant; white, peach or yellow blooms; zones 9 -11
Four O'Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) - Fragrant medium sized flowers; true to its name blooms open late afternoon; annual; zones 8 - 11
Night Blooming Jessamine (Cestrum nocturnum) - Tropical shrub; indistinct white flowers that open at night; very strong fragrance that can be over powering if planted too close to open windows, porches or patios; zones 8 - 9
Oriental Lily 'Casa Blanca' - Big, beautiful, pure white blooms; sweet fragrance; perennial bulb; zones 4 - 8
Gardenia (Gardenia augusta) - The queen of the fragrant garden; white blooms; strong fragrance; shrub; zones 8 - 10"

This website lists some of the above, but also indicates that there are night blooming "daylilies"
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/columngw/gr020422.html
"Daylilies: (Hemerocallis ) that bloom at night include 'Moon Frolic' and 'Toltec Sundial'
Evening Primroses: (Oenothera ) are perennials with sweetly scented blossoms of soft white, pink and bright yellow that open each evening.
Night Phlox: (Phlox 'Midnight Candy' ) at dusk, flowers open to release a honey/almond/vanilla fragrance.
Evening Stock: (Matthiola incana ) has small pink or purplish flowers that are not showy, but emit an intoxicating fragrance at night."

Will think on this some more later. Good night :-)

kmom--

what a lot of good information!

Like the Colorado State Daylily information especially. t.

KMOM
YOU ARE REALLY 'SUM TING'
WHAT ALOT TO RESEARCH...
i DO WANT TO TRY TO HAVE
AN ALL WHITE GARDEN.
GLAD YOU MENTIONED THE ZONE
THING...I FORGOT ABOUT THAT
AND IT'S A BIGGIE...
HAVE YOU KNOWN ANYONE WHO
HAS OR HAD A MOONLIGHT GARDEN??
JUST GOT HOME FROM WORK...CHECKED
MY EMAIL, NOW ITS DINNER MAKING
TIME....WHOPPY DOOO.....HA
CHECK BACK LATER...
DELLER

HI, Dames' Rocket-looks like wild phlox-smells wonderful at night. I only let a couple of pods ripen to control it (bi-ennial)-hardy to 4/5. I have a white blushed one-gleams in the dark-grows about 4 foot-mine is mostly in shade. Should have some small ones, if you want them-in the spring.

MARCIA.
YOU ARE VERY GENEROUS,
AND YES I WOULD. WE LOVE SITTING
OUT ON THE SWING IN THE EVENINGS
STAR GAZING, NOW I HOPE TO HAVE
SOMETHING ELSE TO GAZE AT....
THE AREA I PLAN TO USE IS MOSTLY SHADE
BUT THATS WHERE YOU GET A FULL VIEW
OF THE MOON. BET YOUR YARD IS
BEAUTIFUL...
deller

Deller,
I, too, am planning a "Moon Garden". Here's my list:

Azalea "White Lights"
Butterfly Bush "White Feather"
Common Lilac "Madame Lemoine"
Datura "Evening Fragrance"
Delphinium "Galahad"
Dusty Miller "Silver Brocade"
Dusty Miller "Silver Ragwort"
Dwarf Caladium "Candidum Junior"
Flowering Tobacco
Four O'Clock "Teatime"
Grape Hyacinth "Album"
Hybrid Lilac "Mount Baker"
Lamb's Ear
Lily of the Valley
Moonflower
Oakleaf Hydrangea "Snow Queen"
Oriental Lily "Casa Blanca"
Ornamental Onion
Candytuft
Shasta Daisy "Becky"
Sweet Alyssum
Sweet Pea "Anniversary"
Three-toothed Cinquefoil
Triump Tulip "Inzell"
White Coneflower "White Swan"

I think this will be a work in progress because I doubt if I'll get all of these planted this year.

JoAnn

There are quite a few water lilies that bloom at night. I no longer have a catalog so I can't tell you which ones. I sure enjoyed mine in the evening when I had it.

A plant that I have had for about a year is Oenothera acaulis (Evening Primrose, Dandelion-leaved Sundrop). Right around 9:00 the blooms open right before your eyes. Each bloom opens in a matter of 20 seconds and it is truly magical. It is a sight to be enjoyed by kids and adults. It also blooms over a lot period of time, though you only see the blooms in the evening and early morning.

With that said, I am slightly worried that my plant is a bit aggressive. It has not been aggressive yet in my garden, but I have seen plenty of posts about "Evening Primrose" being difficult to get rid of. I got it from my mom who got it from my aunt. Apparently my aunt has quite a large patch of it and my mom has been known to accept borderline invasive plants into her garden. We shall see.

- Brent

Brent-I think I have the same plant-had no problem with it being agressive-rather would lose some to ground heave each season. WI is like that..at my house anyway.
Sure is a crowd pleaser here when it opens, like time lapse photography.:)

Just happened upon this thread and have been thinking of doing the same thing. My daughter, in Indiana, had a moon garden last year and right this moment I can't remember a single plant that she used. I will ask her and report back. I do know that she was very pleased with her results.

I have a moon garden but I incorporated drought tolerant plants because of the garden's location, which is kind of far from the house (and water) and the plants also had to be pretty deer resistant because we live in the woods and my dogs are getting too old to keep the deer away. The area also gets full sun, including the hot afternoon sun. The plants I'm using include artemesias (Powis Castle and Dusty Miller), white salvia greggii, russian sage, mexican bush sage (salvia leucantha), trailing lantana (white , and purple & white), gray santolina, and a couple of white crepe myrtles. I also have daylilies out there but I'm fighting the deer (and rabbits) in a bad way right now over them! One year I pruned one of my santolinas into the shape of a quarter moon and another into the shape of a star...looked really cool but free-handing a star is not easy!! This year I'm going for the 4 phases of the moon...Qtr moon, half moon, full moon and new moon. The new moon will be the easiest!

I've finally made my list of
foliage and flowers, thanks to
all of you for providing me
with such a large assortment...
deller

the weather here is nuts!!!
65 on thursday, sleet yesterday and
wind chill 11 degrees today....

night scented stock is my favorite garden fragrance and i think ever garden should have some!

okay,,,notmartha...
come clean...name names...
what kind do you recommend?

Night Scented Stock 'Starlight Scentsation'
Matthiola longipetala subsp. bicornis

thanks notmartha...
now I'll get my order ready to send...
wish I had a frogpond, love watching them.
but most of the time, I have to turn off
the lawnmower to susch them away...they
don't seem to come around the swing area..
wonder what attracts them?

I have another suggestion for your white garden! It is beautiful, graceful, and very well behaved. It is Physostegia virgiana 'Miss Manners'. The pink physostegias can be rather invasive, but NOT 'Miss Manners'! she really adds a romantic, "english Garden" effect to a bed.
Hope you try it. It's lovely! Deanna