Moon garden

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Night-blooming flowers Night blooming flowers.jpg
Night-blooming flowers
Night-blooming jessamine being pollinated by a moth at night Sphingidae2.JPG
Night-blooming jessamine being pollinated by a moth at night

A moon garden, also known as a twilight garden, [1] evening garden, [2] night garden, [1] moonlight garden, [3] or dream garden, [4] is a type of garden designed to be enjoyed at dusk and nighttime. Fragrant flowers, light-colored vegetation or blooms that are visible by moonlight, blossoms that open at night instead of day, and plants which attract night pollinators you can hear, are all elements of a moon garden. [1] [5] [6] The different effects produced by moonlight compared to sunlight in human color perception emphasize the colors of certain flowers more than others, bringing out different tones which are not available during daytime or with artificial lights. Night-blooming plants are typically moth, bat or wind pollinated. Planning an evening garden can perform double-duty as a setting for evening entertaining such as barbecues and parties. [2]

Contents

In India, the Mehtab Bagh, meaning 'moonlight garden', was built around 1530 by Emperor Babur and later became part of the Taj Mahal complex. It featured night-blooming plants, white plastered walkways, an octagonal reflecting pool, and a pavilion. [3] :20,28,54

"Moonlight gardens were a tradition enjoyed by Indians before the Mughals; after sheltering from the day's heat, they took their ease amid fragrant white blossoms and flowering trees in the cooler night air. The Mughals added pools and water devices to their moonlight gardens and outlined the raised paths, platforms, and pavilions with small oil lamps."

Design elements

A firefly at night

White reflects better than darker colors, therefore choosing plants with white blooms work well for a moon garden. Paler blues and purples may also show in the gloom. Silvery foliage, such as those you would find in Mediterranean or arid climates, reflects in low light levels. [7] [1] :20 A moon garden is not just about sight, but about all the senses. Strong scents, the feeling of a breeze, or sound of movement will enhance the experience of a garden during the evening or night. [1] :13 Nighttime pollinators, such as moths and bats, are attracted to blooms open at night, strong scents and reflectiveness, and may be visible or audible in the garden. The moon garden's attraction to moths is said to be the night version of a butterfly garden. [1] :26 Water elements might include a small trickling fountain to create soft sounds or reflect light with movement. A moon-gazing pond or birdbath of still water can reflect the Moon—the nighttime equivalent of a reflecting pool. [1] :37 [4]

Low levels of landscape lighting can be appropriate, such as fairy lights for mood lighting, or solar LED lights to illuminate walkways. Electric lighting can create special effects using techniques such as uplighting and silhouetting. [1] :31 Striking features in daylight might disappear at night; they can be lit for nighttime focal points, or a new focal point can be chosen and illuminated. [2] :20 Fireflies are attracted to darker gardens. [1] :44

Plants suited for moon gardens

Angel's trumpet Brugmansia suaveolens-yercaud-salem-India.jpg
Angel's trumpet

Certain flowers and plants with specific colors and nocturnal habits are suited to moon gardens. [8] Among these, lilies, angel's trumpet, [6] sweet rocket, moonflower, [6] four o'clock flower, [6] bearded iris, [5] night gladiolus, evening primrose, magnolia, snowdrop, foxglove, Japanese dogwood, garden phlox, lamb's ear, silvermound, peonies, [5] and common lilac [5] are all commonly cultivated plants in moon gardens.

White flowers are especially suited to moon gardens, but green, pink, and other pale colors are also common. Silver, white, or variegated leaves will work as well. [9]

The wan colors of Moonbeams bloom in Moon gardens planted with lilies, angel's trumpet, sweet rocket, and the like, all of them white or nearly so, or prized for their nocturnal habits. The giant Moon flower, evening's answer to the morning glory, opens its white petals at day's end, as do its companions the four-o'clocks, the vesper iris, and the night gladiolus. Evening primrose also finds welcome in Moon gardens, despite pink blossoms, because the primrose wafts its perfume after dark.

Dava Sobel, The Planets [8]

Night bloomers

Some of the night-blooming plants have names indicating this behavior, such as four o'clocks, evening primrose, night phlox, and moonflower. Other night-blooming flowers include foamflower, tuberose, night-blooming cereus, night-blooming lotus, night gladiolus, Nottingham catchfly, and chocolate daisy. [10] The citron daylily, unlike most day lilies, opens in midafternoon and stays open through the night. [1] :91

Night scents

Gardenia Gardenia jasminoides flower Argentina.jpg
Gardenia

While daytime pollinators use vision to locate their sources of nectar, night pollinators such as moths and bats have poor vision and operate in low light levels. Therefore they are attracted to strongly scented blossoms. [1] :26–27

In response to changing light levels, plants such as Night-scented stock ( Matthiola longipetala ) pump cells to open blooms as night falls, and close up again when daylight returns. [1] :26 Gardenias ( Gardenia jasminoides ) put out stronger scents at night, [11] and night-blooming jessamine ( Cestrum nocturnum ) has such a strong scent it is recommended to plant it a bit away from the house. [12] [1] :82

Silver foliage

Silver-leafed plants are good reflectors and contrast for low light levels, such as silver ragwort ( Senecio cineraria ), Texas sage ( Leucophyllum frutescens ), and several plants in the Artemisia family. [13] [1] :20

Notable gardens

Moonlight Garden, Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Fort Myers, Florida Moonlight Garden, Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Fort Myers, Florida.JPG
Moonlight Garden, Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Fort Myers, Florida

Gardens open to the public which have moon gardens, and notable gardens originally designed and constructed with a moon garden, include:

Other uses of the term

Sometimes a garden is named a 'moon garden' because it features a significant structural element such as a moon gate, moon window, or moon bridge, however the purpose there is different than a garden designed for nighttime experience. Moon gates and moon windows are constructed to frame a view, have a cultural or spiritual meaning, or may symbolically represent the Moon. [15] Moon bridges are usually ornamental and placed so their half-circular shape reflects into still water making a full circle which symbolizes the Moon. [16]

'Planting by the signs' is often called 'moon gardening' because scheduling planting, cultivating, and harvesting of crops is based on moon phases.

See also

Related Research Articles

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Hesperis matronalis is an herbaceous flowering plant species in the family Brassicaceae. It has numerous common names, including dame's rocket, damask-violet, dame's-violet, dames-wort, dame's gilliflower, night-scented gilliflower, queen's gilliflower, rogue's gilliflower, summer lilac, sweet rocket, mother-of-the-evening, Good & Plenties, and winter gilliflower.

<i>Osmanthus fragrans</i> Species of plant

Osmanthus fragrans, variously known as sweet osmanthus, sweet olive, tea olive, and fragrant olive, is a species native to Asia from the Himalayas through the provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan in Mainland China, Taiwan, southern Japan and Southeast Asia as far south as Cambodia and Thailand.

Moonflower may refer to:

<i>Ipomoea alba</i> Species of plant

Ipomoea alba, sometimes called the tropical white morning-glory, moonflower or moon vine, is a species of night-blooming morning glory, native to tropical and subtropical regions of North and South America, from Argentina to northern Mexico, Arizona, Florida and the West Indies. Though formerly classified as genus Calonyction, species aculeatum, it is now properly assigned to genus Ipomoea, subgenus Quamoclit, section Calonyction.

<i>Saponaria officinalis</i> Species of plant

Saponaria officinalis is a common perennial plant from the family Caryophyllaceae. This plant has many common names, including common soapwort, bouncing-bet, crow soap, wild sweet William, and soapweed. There are about 20 species of soapworts altogether.

<i>Oenothera speciosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Oenothera speciosa is a species in the evening primrose family known by several common names, including pinkladies, pink evening primrose, showy evening primrose, Mexican primrose, and buttercups.

<i>Mirabilis jalapa</i> Species of flower

Mirabilis jalapa, the marvel of Peru or four o'clock flower, is the most commonly grown ornamental species of Mirabilis plant, and is available in a range of colors. Mirabilis in Latin means wonderful and Jalapa is the state capital of Veracruz in México. Mirabilis jalapa was cultivated by the Aztecs for medicinal and ornamental purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cottage garden</span> Distinct style of garden

The cottage garden is a distinct style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, it depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure. Homely and functional gardens connected to cottages go back centuries, but their stylized reinvention occurred in 1870s England, as a reaction to the more structured, rigorously maintained estate gardens with their formal designs and mass plantings of greenhouse annuals.

<i>Helleborus foetidus</i> Species of plant

Helleborus foetidus, known variously as stinking hellebore, dungwort, setterwort and bear's foot, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to the mountainous regions of Central and Southern Europe and Asia Minor. It is found wild in many parts of England, especially on limestone soil.

<i>Phlox divaricata</i> Species of flowering plant

Phlox divaricata, the wild blue phlox, woodland phlox, or wild sweet william, is a species of flowering plant in the family Polemoniaceae, native to forests and fields in eastern North America.

<i>Oenothera caespitosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Oenothera caespitosa, known commonly as tufted evening primrose, desert evening primrose, rock-rose evening primrose, or fragrant evening primrose, is a perennial plant of the genus Oenothera native to much of western and central North America, in habitats such as talus slopes and sandy plains. It is normally night-blooming.

<i>Erysimum cheiri</i> Species of flowering plant

Erysimum cheiri, syn. Cheiranthus cheiri, the wallflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), native to Greece, but widespread as an introduced species elsewhere. It is also treated as a hybrid under the name Erysimum × cheiri. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant.

<i>Philadelphus coronarius</i> Species of shrub

Philadelphus coronarius is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to Southern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crocoideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Crocoideae is one of the major subfamilies in the family Iridaceae.

<i>Gladiolus tristis</i> Species of flowering plant

Gladiolus tristis is a species of gladiolus known by several common names, including ever-flowering gladiolus and marsh Afrikaner. It is native to southern Africa, especially South Africa. It is known in parts of Australia and coastal California as an introduced species. It is sometimes grown as a garden plant. This gladiolus typically grows one half to one metre in height, but has been known to approach 1.5 metres tall. It grows from a corm one or two centimetres wide. It produces three narrow, sheathing leaves. The inflorescence is a spike of two to eight large, fragrant blooms. Each flower has six white or cream tepals with greenish or purplish midlines. The flowers are said to have a scent similar to carnations and cloves. Not all individuals possess scent because the allele for its presence is recessive in relation to the allele for its absence.

<i>Amorphophallus titanum</i> Species of flowering plant in the arum family Araceae

Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum, is a flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The inflorescence of the talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera, is larger, but it is branched rather than unbranched. A. titanum is endemic to rainforests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

<i>Agastache foeniculum</i> Species of flowering plant

Agastache foeniculum, commonly called anise hyssop, blue giant hyssop, Fragrant giant hyssop, or the lavender giant hyssop, is a species of perennial plant in the mint family, (Lamiaceae). This plant is native to much of north-central and northern North America. It is tolerant of deer and drought, and is visited by many pollinators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden roses</span> Ornamental roses

Garden roses are predominantly hybrid roses that are grown as ornamental plants in private or public gardens. They are one of the most popular and widely cultivated groups of flowering plants, especially in temperate climates. An enormous number of garden cultivars have been produced, especially over the last two centuries, though roses have been known in the garden for millennia beforehand. While most garden roses are grown for their flowers, often in dedicated rose gardens, some are also valued for other reasons, such as having ornamental fruit, providing ground cover, or for hedging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Kim lilac</span> Subspecies of flowering plant

The Miss Kim lilac is a subspecies of lilac which was categorized by Elwyn M. Meader while stationed in Korea as an army horticulturalist. It was supposedly named after Elwyn M. Meader's Korean helper, whose name was "Kim." This species is endemic to the areas of Korea and Northeast China. The most commonly used name for this subspecies is Miss Kim Lilac yet there are many others used. Flowers produced by this species are of pink, purple, and a light blue hues which accompany a sweet smelling aroma. Alongside flower production fruits called loculicidal capsules are produced. This species tends to bloom in the spring months.

<i>Strophocactus wittii</i> Species of cactus

Strophocactus wittii, synonym Selenicereus wittii, known as the Amazon moonflower, is a species of plant in the genus Strophocactus in the cactus family (Cactaceae), and is one of several species commonly called "moonflowers". It was first described in 1900 and is one of three species of cactus found in the central Amazon basin.

References

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  2. 1 2 3 McHoy, Peter (December 31, 1988). The Evening Garden (Gardening by Design). Orion Publishing Co. ISBN   9780706366754. OL   9324033M.
  3. 1 2 Moynihan, Elizabeth B (2000). The Moonlight Garden: New discoveries at the Taj Mahal. Smithsonian Institution. ISBN   0295980346. OL   6791999M.
  4. 1 2 Shaffer, Marcella (2001). Planning and planting a moon garden : Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletin A-234. Storey Publishing. ISBN   158017339X.
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  7. Lindell, Carolyn (September 21, 2020). "Create a moon garden, perfect for night viewing". Austin American-Statesman .
  8. 1 2 Sobel, Dava (2005). The Planets. Viking Penguin. pp. 103–104. ISBN   0670034460. OL   7641314M.
  9. Koziol, Nina. "The Moonlight Garden: A Composition in White". Chicago Botanic Garden . Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  10. Hodgins, Kat; Noonan, Jennifer. "15 Fascinating Flowers That Bloom Only at Night". Bob Vila . Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  11. Campbell, Lindsay (September 18, 2021). "How to Design a Moon Garden". Modern Farmer .
  12. Scalera, Sally (June 15, 2016). "11 fragrant plants to add to your garden". Florida Today .
  13. "Moonlight Gardens". Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences . 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  14. "The Botanical Garden of San Francisco : The Strybing Arboretum". Fog City Secrets. October 13, 2022. The [Moon Viewing Garden] was inspired by the Japanese custom of tsukimi, or viewing the moon, where during the warm months of August and September, friends and family would gather in a garden after dark to eat, hear music, perform tea ceremonies, and recite poems to the moon.
  15. Xue, Ying; Gibson, Kathleen (April 2019). "Moon Gate as an Evolutionary Interior Archetype". Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Culture, Education and Economic Development of Modern Society (ICCESE 2019). Vol. 310. Atlantis Press. p. 327. doi: 10.2991/iccese-19.2019.75 . ISBN   978-94-6252-698-3.
  16. Liu, Yan (2020). "A full moon in another land: The Moon Bridge in the Japanese garden of the Huntington Library". Frontiers of Architectural Research . 9 (3): 556–567. doi: 10.1016/j.foar.2020.02.004 .

Further reading