The front yard and window boxes of my friend and neighbor Daniel are a riot of vibrant colors. However, his backyard is limited to white flowers. Daniel’s choice to use only white flowers in his backyard was not another one of his lovable quirks.
Daniel works long hours and the only time he has to enjoy his backyard is during late evening or at night, so he created a moon garden. Moon gardens are designed using white or light-colored flowers which reflect the moon light and glow in the dark.
When designing his garden, Daniel incorporated all the elements that make for a great moon garden. He used plants that are prolific bloomers, plants with white, grey or variegated foliage and fragrant night blooming plants. Daniel also used a combination of spring, early summer, mid-summer and fall blooming plants for continuous flowering through the three seasons.
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Following is a list of plants that should be available at most garden centers.
Prolific Blooming Plants
Hydrangea
Knock-out Roses
Spirea
Phlox
Sweet Alyssum
Impatiens
Petunias
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White, Silver and Variegated Foliage Plants
Hosta
Euonymus
Stachys Byzantina (Lambs Ear)
Dianthus
Artemisia Schmidtiana (Silver Mound)
Spotted Dead Nettle
Japanese Painted Fern
Fragrant Night Blooming Plants
Jasmine
Moon flower
Angel trumpet
Gardenia
Nicotiana
To make the most of your moon garden, add some additional light sources. Light your moon garden as you would a room in your house.
Use a combination of light sources: soft overhead lights for general illumination on moon-less or cloudy nights, task lights for grilling and food preparation, candle light for dining and small solar spotlights to accent specific plants or focal points like water features.
To learn more about designing, visit Suite101.com.
