A moon (or evening) garden is a wonderful way to extend the amount of time you can enjoy your landscape. Planning and plotting your moon garden is essential, but also a lot of fun.
First, choose your moon garden location. It should be near your porch, patio, or wherever you enjoy sitting or strolling in your yard. You can work with a small or large area or use containers if you have limited ground space. Fences, walls and trellises are assets for night-blooming vines.
Good plant choices for moon gardens include fragrant night-bloomers and any white or silver plants. Two of my favorites are Four-O'clocks and Moonflower Vines. Four O'clocks are perfect because they awaken in late afternoon with a profusion of red, yellow, pink, white or variegated flowers that perfume the air with a sweet fragrance - and they grow well in Texas.
Moonflower Vine is a lovely night-bloomer with attractive, heart-shaped leaves and beautiful, large, pure-white blooms that have a delicate, heavenly scent that's at its best at night. If you wait until morning to sniff, most of the fragrance will be gone. Plant seeds along a fence for climbing or just allow the vine to travel along the ground.
Other night-scented plants include Evening Primroses, Sweet-Scented Nicotiana, and "Royal Standard" and "So Sweet" Hostas. Tender fragrant bloomers include Angel's Trumpets (Brugmansia) and Allamanda vine.
White or silver plants catch the glow from the moon or outside lighting and lend a mellow, peaceful mood to the moon garden. Try planting white varieties of iris, lilies, zinnias, or daisies along with silver-leafed plants like Artemisias, Dusty Miller, Lamb's Ear, or Japanese Silver Grass for a pleasing effect.
Then spend a few minutes relaxing in your moon garden before bedtime and have pleasant dreams.
Linda Myers, Smith County Master Gardener
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