You Should Plant a Moon Garden
During a recent visit to the Phoenix Art Museum, I kept noticing their garden. There was a long path of many white flowers of various heights, and even in daylight it glowed. When I finally went outside to see him up close, the scent of the flowers overtook me. I asked about the garden and was told that it was a moon garden and that I should return at night. Thus began my new hobby.
What is a moon garden?
White is the dominant color throughout the world, but we rarely see many of them planted together. Silver, cream and white flowers together give the impression of being luminous. And while these bleached tones are the most effective, you can also add other colors that reflect light: greenish yellow, lavender, light blue or yellow.
More importantly, there are certain flowers that actually bloom only at night, opening up to moonlight, and in some cases scenting only at night.
Night bloomers
There are many flowers to consider for your moon garden. Moonflower lives up to its name, blooming pearl flowers in the evenings. Foamflower is a low maintenance woodland favorite. Lily Casa Blanca has a milky color and opens at dusk. Tuberose shoots out thorns up to four feet tall with a purple scent. Mock orange easily fills a space, growing up to ten feet, and although the flowers are visible during the day, it smells best at night.
When it’s in season, the night-blooming jasmine is recognizable from ten feet away. The vine can climb any structure, creating a colored wall. The night phlox nestles close to the ground, curling up during the day and opening at night with small white flowers. Night gladioli give a spicy aroma to their colorful two-meter thorns.
Use white daytime bloomers to fill in the space
Since you want the garden to shine during the day, you can mix petals that bloom at night with white flowers that bloom during the day. Climbing white roses help add real structure to any garden, whether over a trellis, or nestled against a wall, or with more traditional rose bushes. Adding white clematis to a wall of roses allows the clematis vines to use the roses as a trellis.
Use silver and gray flowers to make the colors pop.
One of the real tricks in these gardens is using silver or gray flowers to create a shadow effect against the white. Eringium is a great choice, with stunning alien-like buds and sterling-colored flowers. Sage white sage is a drought tolerant perennial plant that produces tin sage shoots. Silver Baby Agapanthus creates small gray companions.
Creating a beautiful moon garden
When you create a planting scene, consider the seasons, sunlight, and height of the plants. Start by making a list of white plants by height and lay out the layout of the space you will be planting in. Place the tallest plants in the middle if you have a walkable garden, or in the back if you are planting against it. wall. Start with evergreens that will keep their foliage year-round, and then add climbing vines, which are usually seasonal. Work your way down in height until you reach the front of the garden.
After that, add flowers that will act as shadows: your silver or lavender plants. Be sure to consider how it will look in winter and summer, as you can extend your garden’s color throughout the year by changing plants.
Leave some room in front for annuals – those plants that don’t grow year after year. These accessible spots mean that when your annuals die, you can rip them out and replace them easily.
Finally, think about your lighting. White moon gardens seem to glow on their own, soft lighting can help. Consider adding soft light and, if possible, seating nearby. If you need a quick start, consider purchasing the Moonlight Garden mix . Moonlight gardens can take a while to fill and take shape, but you can create a gorgeous spectacle that’s well worth the investment.