Photo: Woodland Phlox, David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Deidra Bryant
Spring is on its way, and like many of us you’re probably getting ready to prep your garden for flowers and veggies. When planting, most people take into consideration how plants will look in the daytime, but have you ever heard of moon gardens? They’re gardens best enjoyed from dusk to dark and are best appreciated at the end of a hot day, when the nicest time to sit outside is during the evening. If you spend your time at work in the daytime, these enchanting gardens can be quite lovely and relaxing to walk around in when you come home in the evening.
Moon gardens generally include white flowers and silvery foliage that glow in the moonlight, fragrant plants that add to the sensory experience, and grasses that bring pleasant sounds when rustling in the evening breeze. A trickling fountain is also a good idea if you want to provide a wonderful auditory and visual experience with the moonlight reflecting on the water’s surface. The best part is that these gardens not only help you relax when the moon is out, but also attract night pollinators like bats and moths, both highly successful pollinators. Here’s how to get started, along with a list of a few plant species that benefit both daytime and nighttime pollinators.
A moon garden does not have to be very large. It just needs to be in an area where people congregate and can enjoy the ghostly white and shimmery silver-colored blossoms and plants. You’ll also need to research the amount of sunlight and soil types for the area selected for the moon garden. Though the moon garden’s true beauty will be on display in the evening, night blooming plants still need some amount of sunlight and proper soil conditions.
May Breeze Woodland Phlox, David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sweetbay Magnolia, (c)2008 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man). Co-attribution must be given to the Chanticleer Garden., CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Choosing native plants for your moon garden is an invitation to see a different side of a flower’s beauty, as flowers that display in vibrant pale shades take on a new personality when viewed under moonlight. Your moon garden should have native plants with flowers that are shades of white, cream, silver, pale pink, and pale lavender. Examples include Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), May breeze woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata), Fleabane (Erigeron annuus), Evening primrose, Pinxterbloom azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides), Common elderberry (Sambuca canadensis), White sagebrush (Artemisia ludoviciana), and Sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana). When planting, place flowers with the same shade of white in the same area. If you put two different shades together, one will appear dull compared to the other, making the garden less visually striking. Pale, decorative native grasses also can be lovely. Ideally, these grasses will be silver in color all year long, rather than evergreen. Sugarcane plumegrass (Saccharum giganteum) and Bushy bluestem (Andropogon glomeratus) are good examples, because their silvery color will gently shimmer in the pale moonlight.
Bats and moths are just as effective pollinators as birds and bees. Bats help control mosquitoes, as well as harmful beetles and other pests, and can carry a significant amount of pollen on their face and fur. Moths also work the night shift by collecting pollen on their legs. Mothing (viewing moths attracted with a draped white sheet and a light source) also can be a fun outdoor activity in the spring and summer, especially in your newly designed moon garden! So, help all your local pollinators out this year and create your own peaceful garden to enjoy at night.