An Enchanged Evening Garden Plan

I have been thinking about this for some time and wondered if anyone else had an idea for a moonlit garden, where there are plants that are illuminated by the light of the mon?

Of course, most of the flowers would be white or pastel, and the foilage well-defined, with variagation or sininess. It would have a place to sit by a fragrant bush, such as a gardenia or a jasmine, or a trellis or wall covered with roses.......

Would to hear your ideas for a moonlit garden!!! Thanks!!

One interesting annual for a moon garden that reseeds readily is an old-fashioned flowering tobacco called Nicotiana sylvestris. It gets about 5' tall, with large leaves (it is a tobacco!), then tops off with numerous white flowers on a spike, similar to the old-fashioned Hosta plantaginea. And the fragrance! After dark, it is heavenly as any jasmine. It practically glows in the moonlight! Very nice to mix in a border or behind other plants/shrubs. There are many, many plants to choose from. Google "moon garden". Have fun.

YES! I am planning a night garden. Moonlight and manmade lighting. I think it's an awesome idea! What are you thinkin?

I agree with Hoosier on the Nicotiana sylvestris, it is heavenly!
And Moon vine, it is a "Morning glory" that is white, blooms at night but larger flowers then the Morning Glory and you can watch them open , like slow motion.
There are loads of information on Moon Gardens on the web, go for it!

I think scents are stronger in the night so I would look for heavily scented plants as well. Don't forget that some of the ground covers such as Lamium "Beacon Silver would pick up low level light maybe along a walk way with or with out footlights. Also variegated grasses or grasses with silver/white plumes. Maybe some of the lime colored Heucherella (name escapes me at the moment).

Those are great ideas, folks!! Yes, Nicotiana has earned its spot for the evening garden. I have a list of other scented blooms, especially white roses, but I welcome anyone's favorites. I saw a large hibiscus with white flowers when I was in Arkansas last August, but it was during the late afternoon and the flowers were open. Very bright and pretty!! I bummed some seeds from that bush. But I think hibiscus blooms close at night, don't they?? I have a pale lavendar/mauve one out back already and the flowers seemed to roll up like ciagars for the night.

An unusual rose for the evening is "Neptume." This rose opens as a mauve bud, and fades to a silvery lavender with an illuminence. It has one of the most potent fragrances, so lovely!! I have this treasure. It just needs to grow a bit more....

For grasses, Zebra grass and silver-plumed Pampas are great in the borders or as sentinel plants for an entrance. Also, dwarf fountain grass "Little Bunny" or bunnytails are good for an edging. I have quartz cobble stones to edge my herb garden with, and light flag stones for the walkway. There are some solar-powered low-light posts for the walks in darker areas, but it is mostly lit by the light colored and varigated plants.

I saw some lime-colored Asparagus fersn mixed with white alyssum in a public garden that was gorgeous. It was textured and color-coordinated carpet. Tall "Silver Candles" (cimicifuga) and varigated hostas are also in my garden. But I'm looking for something taller for the back of the borders.......Anything lie trumpets or saucers on a vine that have a long bloom period are most desirable.

Mattiholia (night scented stocks). Probably the most drab looking annual in my garden and one of the biggest POWS for scent at night. Also ipomeoa alba (moonflower) which ladygardener mentioned is to die for. Sob because I can't grow it in the mountains (our nights are too cold). I think the variegated dogwoods show really well at night for woodys in a night garden. I have bunnytails on my list Foxnfirefly. Of course I HAVE to mention the white/lavender blends of the dahlias. The best show in the garden at twilight and hold their own in moonlight too. There are many to choose from. I think the waterlily type have the best flower form for night.

I love the smell of petunias at night. White petunias would be something to consider. I've only grown petunias with deep colors, but I'm assuming white ones are just as fragrant.

Well, Foxnfirefly, I just checked in here, finally,
I'm so glad you started the thread!
I'll be back!

I'm planning a Moon Garden, too, and here are some suggestions I found for plants:

Mix annuals and perennials, since annuals blossom all season long if deadheaded regularly, and perennials tend to have a shorter period of time when they are in peak bloom.

Since many night-flowering plants are very fragrant when evening sets in, plant them where you are most likely to catch their scent, such as under a window, or next to a garden bench or walkway.

Some evening bloomers include: moonflower vine, night blooming jasmine, evening primrose, nicotiana, and night phlox.

Some lovely perennial choices for you include: Phlox paniculata 'David' or 'Mt. Fuji', Echinacea pupurea 'White Lustre' or 'White Swan', candytuft 'Snowflake', lilium 'Snow Trumpt', Monoarda didyma 'Snow White' , Queen Anne's Lace, astilbe, Shasta daisy, white Thalictrum (meadow rue), and Veronica speedwell, 'Alba'. Some rugosa roses have white flowers.

Annuals include: Moonshadow sunflower, white impatiens, French Vanilla Marigold, Alyssum, White Sonata Cosmos, Misty White nigella, Pearly Gates morning glory, German statice, helichrysum, white geranium.

And just so I don't get in any copyright trouble, this info was taken from a 2008 article by ArcaMax Publishing, Inc. www.arcamax.com

Some others I've found along the way are:

Azaelea 'White Lights'
Butterfly Bush, 'White Feather'
common Lilac 'Madame Lemoine'
Datura Inoxia 'Evening Fragrance' (as mentioned before)
Delphinium 'Galahad'
Devil's Trumpet 'Belle Blanche'
Dusty Miller "Silver Brocade'
Dwarf Caladium 'Candidum Junior'
Flowering Tobacco (as mentioned before)
Four O'clock white
Grape Hyacinth 'Album'
Hybrid lilac 'Mount Baker'
Lamb's Ear
Lily-of-the-Valley
Moonvine (as mentioned before)
Oakleaf Hydrangea 'Snow Queen'
Oriental lily 'Casa Blanca'
Ornamental Onion White Gladiator Allium
Perennial Candytuft
Shasta Daisy 'Becky'
Sweet Alyssum 'Sweet Alison"
Sweet Pea
Tall German Bearded Iris "Immortality"
Three-toothed Chinquefoil
Triump Tulip "Inzell"
White Coneflower 'White Swan'

Keep in mind however, of the type of soil you have and also the location as far as if it's sunny or shady.

If anyone comes up with some more, please let us know.

JoAnn

Shebs & Chantell--Regarding petunias, I've only grown a few "shock wave" colored ones that were a hot pink, and they didn't have a scent that I could detect. I will look into the white and old-fashioned violet ones, thanks.

Hi, Nilly. Where'd you go??

Hi, Frausnow!! You put out quite a good list! I do have some of those plants. Lots of shasta daisies here and there. I have been looking for others to add to my garden this spring, mainly some shrubs. Here is my list so far:

- Abelia "Silver Anniversary" - it's small and covered with lovely silvery white flowers.

- Cotinus coggrygia "Young Lady"--it's a larger shrub covered with feathery pale pink flowers that look like cotton candy, from summer to frost. Gorgeous!!

- Cryptomeria japonica "Knaptoensis"--a dwarf shade-loving confier that bears white needles in spring that turn bright lime green later on. Very bright!! Would make a good texture enhancement to the shady border.

- Hibiscus syriacus "Sugar Tip" --(aka Rose of Sharon shrub). A lovely white hiscus that doesn't set seed. Good in a patio pot.

- Clematis "Henryi"--a large white-flowered vine with 6 inch blooms--it is a favorite clematis. Lovely. Blooms in spring and again in the summer.

- Selenicerius (cereus) - a night-bloomer plant, unusual.

Still searching for more moonlight plants!!