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Cooperative Extension Service |
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Agricultural
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Arbor Day
Dale Bumpers College
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Night Gardening
When building a night garden, consider what part of your garden would be the most visible or accessible in the evening. Pick a section near your patio or deck, -- where you will most likely be in the evening, and concentrate your efforts there. Diversification in a garden is essential for your landscape to be interesting. You wouldn't want the focal part of your yard visible only in the evening, because it would be hard for passing cars to enjoy. So create a space for you to enjoy, and pull out all the stops. There are some truly outstanding plants that were made to shine in the night garden. The top two are both called moon flowers-the moon vine- Ipomoea alba; and moon bush, or Angels' trumpet -- Datura meteloides. The morning glory moon vine, Ipomoea, is a summer annual. This vining plant produces six inch pure white trumpet flowers that unfurl in slow motion every night just at sunset. While each flower only lasts a day-or should we say, evening, they remain fragrant well into the evening. While it does produce a prolific vine, it doesn't freely reseed itself, so save some seeds for next seasons garden. The Datura, or bush moon plant has six-inch or larger white trumpet flowers that open at night and remain open well into the following day. This plant is a perennial most years, and can send up extra seedlings. Each flower again only lasts a day, but each bloom will form a bristly round seed pod. To keep it blooming more freely, pinch off the seed pods until late in the season, when you want to start saving seeds. Keep in mind that all parts of this plant are poisonous. Both of these plants are summer bloomers, and won't kick in and grow until the soil is nice and warm. They will give you a wonderful show all summer long. Another old fashioned plant for the night garden is one of the flowering tobaccos. Nicotiana sylvestris is a large plant. Unlike the common annual flowering tobacco, this plant can grow three to five feet tall, and form a large rosette. The flowers form in clusters of three inch long trumpets, and are sweetly fragrant in the evening. In milder winters, this plant will be perennial, but don't always count on it-save some seeds. Don't overlook the Oenothera's. Although these plants come in shades of yellow and pink, they are excellent late afternoon through early morning bloomers. First to bloom is the showy evening primrose, the pink Oenothera speciosa , followed by the yellow blooms of Oenothera biennis. Both are perennial, and may freely reseed in the garden, and they can give you a wonderful sweet fragrance in the evening as well. Night blooming jasmine is not a showy plant to put in the garden, but once you've gotten a whiff of its night scent, you won't want to miss it. Cestrum nocturnum produces greenish-white tubular shaped flowers. While the flowers are not that showy, its sweet scent is phenomenal, and it blooms in cycles throughout the summer. There are numerous true jasmines which have fragrance all day, and also have nice white showy flowers which will continue to shine in the night garden. Star jasmine - Jasminum nitidum, and pink jasmine - Jasminum polyanthum are two good choices. Another group of plants for the evening garden include the Four o'clock. Starting in the late afternoon, Mirabilis jalapa's two inch trumpet-shaped flowers open, releasing a jasmine-like scent. Although they aren't all white, they give you a mix of colors ranging from pink, rose, white, orange, to yellow. They are easy to establish, and come back for many years to come. For those who like the truly unusual plant, consider a houseplant that you move outdoors for the summer. The night blooming cereus is truly the ugly duckling of the plant world. This gangly vining succulent houseplant was very popular decades ago, and is making a comeback today. They produce flower buds along the edge of the leaf and you can watch their progress daily. It usually takes a little over a week or more before the bud is large enough to open, but once it does -- stand back -- these flowers are unique and enormous. The flowers are unique and seven or more inches across. They won't open until the sun is well set, but remain open and fragrant all night long. When building a night garden, consider adding plants which don't necessarily bloom only at night or release their fragrance then, but which have white blooms to glow in the moonlight. Keep in mind the blooming season, to extend the enjoyment of your night garden. Traditionally, white flowers were not all that exciting to many gardeners, but there are many excellent choices of white blooming or silver foliaged plants to choose from. They include bulbs and perennials: candytuft, white Japanese anemones, snowdrops, lily-of-the-valley, ox-eye daisy, Shasta daisy, white bleeding heart, lilies, snow on the mountain Euphorbia, 'Summer Snow' obedient plant, phlox and tuberose with their sweet and heady (almost overpowering) fragrance. Shrubs include: white azaleas, white flowering forms of butterfly bush or buddleia, mock orange, white Clethra, Idea, 'Annabelle' hydrangea, oakleaf hydrangea, deutzia, gardenia (also highly fragrant), pearlbush-Exochorda, spiraea, viburnum, fringe trees-and yes, even white roses. And don't overlook the annuals, with white flowering forms of begonias, cosmos, Dianthus, Impatiens, lantana, verbena, and zinnia. White or silver foliaged plants include dusty miller, artemisia, silver thyme, lambs ear and Lamium. You have a wide range from which to choose, so explore your options. Even if you have ample time to enjoy your garden during the day, why not extend your viewing pleasures. Besides the fact that you have more time to sit and enjoy your night garden, the temperatures are usually cooler. Consider comfortable seating near your garden, and possibly add some extra lighting -- for when the moonlight isn't available. You may get so caught up in the unfurling of night blossoms, or the night blooming moths that now visit, that you won't want to go inside. I have heard of neighborhood watch parties waiting for these night blooming plants to open. |
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University of Arkansas • Division of Agriculture |
Mission
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Disclaimer
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EEO
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The
midnight garden needn't be a garden of good or evil, but one simply to enjoy in
the evening, or better yet, by moonlight. Today's life style has many working at
the office until late in the day, and they still want to enjoy their gardens.
Dark colored flowers disappear with the onset of dusk, while white flowering
plants still shine. There are many plants that are geared to the night -blooming
exclusively at night, releasing their fragrance into the twilight. Still others
have flowers that are open during the day, but they don't release their scent
until evening.