By Reba Kocher
Listen to this blog post here:moon_garden.mp3
Have you ever heard of a moon garden? They’re gardens that are meant to be enjoyed at night by moonlight. When we think about gardens and plants, we tend to think of beautiful sunshiny days with lots of bright colors. A moon garden allows us to challenge the idea of what a garden is. It will feature lots of white flowers, plants that bloom in the evening, and wonderfully fragrant flowers.
The white flowers and silvery foliage look beautiful glowing in the moonlight. Four O’Clocks open around 4:00P.M., as their name suggestions, are really cool to watch. Mostly flowers open in the morning when the sun comes out, and we rarely get to enjoy watching them open, but with a moon garden, there are several different flowers that you can watch open. Many of these flowers, like chocolate daisies, also have strong, sweet scents radiating through the garden. Another reason I like the idea of moon gardens because they are a really cool way to attract nighttime pollinators to your garden--like moths and bats. Clary Gardens is thinking about putting in our own moon garden? What do you think?
Chocolate Daisies
Four O'Clocks
Moonflowers
Want more moon garden info? The Chicago Botanical Garden has an awesome article about the history of moon gardens plus some info on what to plant! https://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/smartgardener/moon-gardens
Create a moon garden yourself by checking out these links!
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/spaces/moon-garden-design.htm
https://www.thespruce.com/planting-a-moon-garden-2132163
https://www.thespruce.com/planting-a-moon-garden-2132163
https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/flowers-and-plants/flowers/create-a-moon-garden
https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/colorful/design-for-a-moon-garden/