If you go hardworking like the staff of this newsroom, we imagine that you don’t have the time or energy to enjoy a garden when you get home after a long day at work.
But it doesn’t have to be like this: a lunar gardenwith white, fragrant plants that bloom at night, is the answer, and landscape architects promise you’ll love it even more than your day garden.
“A well-designed moon garden is delightful and endlessly fascinating,” says Jack Carman, landscape director at Spiezle Architecture and specialist in therapeutic gardens.
“It engages the senses in a way that day gardens cannot. On the one hand, it’s quieter and cooler at night – with just the rustle of leaves in the breeze – so it’s instantly calming. You have the reflected moonlight in the flowers, in addition to the delicious aromas that are characteristic of plants that bloom at night”, he adds.
In a lunar garden, Carman argues, “it takes little to liven up the mood. One wind chime and some candles. This is magical, whether you just want to relax alone, dine alfresco or have friends over.”
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The lunar garden can be in a separate area. But you can simply include nocturnal elements in the existing landscape, according to Louise Reiling of the Auburn Pointe Greenhouse & Garden Center. «Remember it should be an open area bathed in moonlight and away from trees and structures.»
Want another reason to feel good about a moon garden? “Nature has designed plants with flowers nocturnal to be especially scented and attract nocturnal pollinators like moths and bats,” says Reiling. “We will undoubtedly help these bats. They do a wonderful job for us, devouring tons of mosquitoes.”
What to plant in a lunar garden
The vibrant colors of the flowers that look so stunning in daylight – especially the reds and purples – fade to a mix of grays when the sun disappears, then into the night garden you need flowers of light colors that will shimmer in the moonlight.
Opt for white, yellow, pink and lavender, advises Venelin Dimitrov, a horticulturist at the W. Atlee Burpee Company. Some white flowering plants readily available at garden centers are, for example, impatiens, shasta daisies, peonies and hydrangeas. Since fragrance is an important factor here, consider garden tobacco, cleome, mirabilis, night phlox, and viburnum.
And no night garden is complete without the moon flower, according to Dimitrov. It is a vigorous vine with six-inch white flowers that open at dusk, releasing a lovely lemon fragrance to attract large moths from blocks away.
if you have one fence or trellis who want to cover it up in a hurry, convent bells are a great choice, and for exotic scents, lady of the night is perfect. But beware: a little perfume goes a long way, so even one plant will do.
A foliage you can also do magic in the night garden. For variegated, silvery foliage that gleams in the moonlight, try mugwort, lungwort, Russian sage, yarrow, thyme, and santolina.
How to light up your lunar garden
To light up the backyard when the moon is not new or full, opt for a soft lightingsuch as small white lights, candles and lamps.
Furthermore, light color landscaping elements, such as paving, fencing, arbors, benches, and garden decorations will also work. And include reflective surfaces like glass objects or water in a fountain. All of this helps to increase the ambient light and make the landscape sparkle.
* Via house beautiful