Looking for plants to create a moon garden in your backyard? If so then this article is a must read for you as we have listed 20 such plants that will be perfect for your moon garden. Keep reading to learn more about what these plants are.
What Is Moon Garden?
‘Moon Garden’ are unique landscape gardens designed for night time enjoyment. These were initially created in ancient China as rest, medication and relaxation spaces after a hard day of work. These gardens are designed in a way to look best during the nighttime.
The garden is created combining night-blooming plants and light-colored foliage surrounded by brightly toned hardscapes. When the moonlight falls over these moon garden, it gets illuminated and makes the garden come to life.
Plants suitable for moon garden are mainly silver foliage or light green plants or variegated leaves. In addition with some fragrant, light, night-blooming flowering plants can create an ultimate moon garden that you can enjoy. The fragrance from the garden will offer an exotic and tropical feel to the landscape.
While the look of the moon garden when moonlight falls and lit it up will create an otherworldly serene environment. Location your moon garden in a open spot creates a better look than adding lights to illuminate your garden.
15 Plants You Can Grow In Your Moon Garden
Here are 15 best plants you can choose from, for your moon garden.
Moonflower
Moonflowers are great for moon garden in cooler climate areas. They need little to moderate watering and grows as perennials in zone 10. Then prefer cooler spots to grow and bloom and can grow throughout the year.
In warmer climates these plants grows way too fast and spreads quickly. The moonflower offers a pop of color to your garden with it white trumpet-shaped flowers. The flowers give off a lemony smell and only survive till a night after blooming in the afternoon.
These plants grow best on supportive landscapes.
Evening Primrose
Evening Primrose is native biennial wildflower so if you grow it once in your soil it will grow back in the next year as well. These plants need little water and grow best on well-draining soil. The thrive in zone 3 to 11 and loves full sun.
These plants bloom for a long time from summer to fall in cooler places so you can enjoy your moon garden for long time. These plants offer light yellow or white flowers usually and the flower open during evening offering a light scent.
Night Blooming Jasmine
Night blooming jasmine are another plant you can use for your moon garden and gives of strong fragrance around the garden. These plant offers strongly scented flowers of variety of colors. Pink, white, yellow or green flowers and once the flowers fade, blooming jasmine offers produce purple or red or white berries.
These plants need watering always to grow and grow up to 10’ tall so they need spurning. This plant cannot tolerate clod climate so it is suitable for tropical climates. Keep you soil moist for this plant to grow, so water it regularly.
Angel’s Trumpet
Angel’s trumpet is a stunning plant to choose for your moon garden that offers large tubular flowers. These flowers come in varieties of colors like pink, apricot, white and yellow and gives of strong fragrance. These plants needs lots of watering.
The plant grows up to 15’ tall and loves warm weather. This plant does not tolerate frost so it can also be perfect for overwintered indoors plants. But if you have pets and small children, then keep these plants away from them or avoid it altogether. The reason being that this plant is toxic when ingested.
Gardenia
Gardenia are fragrant night-blooming flower that blooms in the evening and offers a jasmine-like fragrance. These plants are often used for moon gardens as its an evergreen shrub that grows 3 to 6’ tall all throughout the year. You can prune the plant to suit you moon garden size or let it grow in your garden.
This plant loves warm weather, so suitable for tropical climates. This plant is used as a houseplant in colder places. Gardenia comes in a variety of colors, white being the common color. The plant prefers acidic soil and frequent fertilizing during growing season.
Deadheading spent blooms helps produce more flowers in the plant.
Flowering Tobacco
Flowering tobacco is plant that’s grown only for ornamental purposes and should not be smoked. These plants offer tubular flowers in varieties of color like pink, purple or red that emits a sweet, floral fragrance similar to jasmine flower.
This plant is a great pick for your moon garden both with its look and smell that it emits. This plant thrives in perennial zone 10 and 11, so if you live in colder region start the germination process indoors before planting it outside.
Germinate it during spring in colder regions. These plants are great pollinators and grows easily in open non crowded space.
Dusty Miller
One of the most alien looking plants Dusty miller are one of the most popular plants for moon garden. There is a reason for it being a popular plant for the purpose as it offers silver foliage that lights up your garden during night. This plant compliments the night-blooming flowers in your moon garden.
Dusty miller grows up to 2’ high and great for small and compact spaces. This plant grows annually when grown in cooler spots in zone 8. The plant prefers acidic soil and enjoys full sun. It needs moderate watering and plant it in brighter spots in your moon garden.
Narcissus
Daffodils (Narcissus spp.) are spring-blooming bulbs that comes in many colors but for moon garden the white daffodils are especially preferred. The flowers of this plant offer sweet and delicate notes of fragrance that delights your senses. In moonlight the Narcissus flowers shine beautifully in the garden and are great for spring wedding bouquets.
These plant bulbs should be planted during the fall season between September to November keeping in mind the growing location.
Conclusion
There are name different landscapes you can create in your backyard space but creating moon garden is well worth it. Here with us which plants you choose for your moon garden and how it turned out?
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