moonlight gardening

I am trying to start a moonlight garden of mostly white and some blue things. So far I have viburnum, white crepe myrtle, white angel trumpet, white lantana, blue and white plumbago, powis castle artemesia, white angelonia, white azalea, snowcone roses and virginia sweetspire (it's a pretty big area). I just ordered a Hibiscus Blue River II. I had moonvine last year and it was breathtaking, but the wasps thought so, too, and I had a problem with that, so I'm still thinking about that one. I'm trying to keep the plantings to more shrubby-type things to minimize frustration from doggie damage. Anybody have any other suggestions? (oh, I forgot white pentas!)

how about "night blooming jasmine" or "white helitrope"

nicotiana aka flowering tobacco

Moon Flower or Moon Vine

You didn't say if it was a shady or full sun area. For a shady location:

Astilbe, see following link

http://www.dutchgardens.com/Diamond%20Astilbe/30810S,default,pd.html

Are you using only perennials? White petunias give off a delicious scent.

Check these for your zone: Lily of the valley, Hydrangea (white or blue), Dogwood, White Lilac, Hosta (some have white blooms and those with white on leaves really stick out at night), Polar Bear Zinnias, White asters, white snapdragons, white cleome, alyssum, baby's breath, ageratum (white or blue).

Remember that annuals bloom for a longer period than most any perennials, although they have to be replanted or allowed to reseed. My nicotiana (flowering tobacco) has babies all over the place from seed from last year. The nicotiana blooms in the afternoon and evening, as would Four O'clocks.

Good luck with it.
T
Theresa

Queen of the Night or Night Blooming Cereus

White pentas and cleome for annuals.....but a real nice one I think is 'White Swan' echinacea.....It's color is almost luminous late in the evening......I have those for my moonlight garden along with a shasta daisy called 'crazy daisy', a white salvia and two vines, one a Moon vine and the other a white version of a Black-eyed Susan vine.....oh and another one is tall phlox, 'David', great flower I think....The way I have my area setup I have full sun and some part sun.....a white rose, say a 'Sombreuil' would be nice and fragrant.....The things I have planted now are just starting to bloom....well some of them.....if you have enough variety you can always have something blooming

Paul from Alabama

Moonflower

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions! In answer to some of the questions asked, the area will get a half day of morning and midday sun and afternoon shade. And I'm using annuals, perennials, whatever stries my fancy! And I had a question for Paul from Piedmont: what kind of white salvia do you have? Several years ago my mother had a white salvia that was huge. It got probably four feet or so tall, and had a really thick main stem. It looked like the "Nymph" type of salvia. I can't remember what the name of it was, and my mom has since passed away. I can't find anything like it anywhere. Your salvia wouldn't fit that description, would it? I'd love to find it and put it in my moonlight garden. Anybody else out there have any idea what that salvia might have been?

There's Salvia coccinea 'White Nymph', is that the one she had? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/65131/ The coccineas don't get that tall, but the only "nymph" ones I know are all cultivars of S. coccinea. I've got Salvia patens 'Trophy White' which also gets about the same size (2 ft) but has bigger flowers. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=salvia&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=patens&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=trophy&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

Howduy lalasland.....ecrane pointed you to the one I have, 'White Nymph'....I got it growing in a container right in front of me right now, hey I can give you a real time description of it......:).....but seriously I wish I could help you with the one your mother had but I can't seem to think of what it might be, sorry. Mine only gets a couple of feet tall....

Paul from Alabama

I wonder if how much water it got could have affected its height and made it taller than it's supposed to be. I have a Salvia clevelandii which is supposed to get 24-36 inches according to Plant Files, but I have two that catch the runoff from the neighbors' lawn sprinklers which they run WAY too often, and they're over 4 ft tall. The one that doesn't get the runoff is about 2 ft tall just like it's supposed to be. So I wonder if Salvia coccinea could behave the same way?

lalasland.....Have you ever in your whole life heard such bragging from anybody, "I have a Salvia clevelandii which is supposed to get 24-36 inches according to Plant Files.....and they're over 4 ft tall".....Talk about cheeky....:)

I agree with ecrane, I've had plants that behaved like they were on steroids cause of various and sundry things to do with their micro environment as it were......

Paul from Alabama

i have had only one experience with a night blooming plant...and that was moonflower...i cant even remember anything about it, i must have planted it because it certainly wasnt growing there before, and i remember the reason i wanted certain flowers there was for the elderly woman i worked for, when she had to get up in the night to use the bedside commode, i wanted her to be able to look out her window on the nights when the moon was full and see something pretty, so when the moonflower grew big and strong and began to bloom huge beautiful white flowers, we both enjoyed them ever so much. and we both disagreed with her daughter who demanded i destroy the bush because it was an invasive weed that would soon take over the place. needless to say her daughter got her way. sad to say i never had any luck growing that plant after that...guess i just havent been in the right zone for it. but if you have the chance, grow it, but protect the rest of your garden from it.

BTW, moonflower is a vine.

Our best night blooming plant is a large Bridal Wreath (Spiraea). We went out most moonlit nights just to watch it glow.

I love Spirea. I was in NY over the weekend and saw a plant that looks just like Spirea, but the leaves are purple-ish and the blooms are very light pink. Have you ever seen such a thing. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me.

There are two moonflowers--Ipomoea alba which is a vine, and some species of Datura which is more a shrub.