Create a Moonlight (Night) Garden

Melinda’s Garden Moments is heard Mon.-Fri. at 7:45 and 10:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on WHAV.

Melinda’s Garden Moments is heard Mon.-Fri. at 7:45 and 10:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on WHAV.

Create a beautiful garden that reaches its peak once the sun sets.

A moon or night garden extends your outdoor enjoyment with white and light colored flowers that just seem to glow in the dark. They even appear to float in the air as the green leaves disappear in the dark.

Add some vertical interest with white flowered vines like moonflower vine (Ipomoea alba), clematis or climbing roses trained on a trellis. White flowered roses and hydrangeas or Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia arborea) brighten the background. Then look for white flowered perennials for seasonal interest. And don’t forget to add some white flowered annuals for season long color.

Add a few bright highlights with variegated folaige and splashes of light with silver leafed plants.

Then finish off your garden with a bit of nighttime fragrance. Include a few four o’ clocks, flowering tobacco and evening stock. As always, match the flowers to the growing conditions as well as your design scheme.

A bit more information: Light up the garden and pathways with candles or landscape lighting. And increase your landscape’s nighttime beauty by up lighting a few trees and shrubs with interesting form or bark.

For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com.