by Patti Wigington of www.thoughtco.com
Many Pagans love to garden, but a lot of people don’t realize you can grow plants and flowers that bloom at night. Cultivating a moon garden is a great way to get in touch with nature, and it provides a beautiful and fragrant backdrop for your moonlight rituals in the summer. If you plant these lovelies close to your house, you can open the windows and take advantage of their aromas as you sleep.
Many night-blooming plants are white, and give a luminous appearance in the moonlight.
If you plant them in a circle or a crescent shape, when they bloom, you’ll have the moon herself right there “as above, so below.” There are a number of plants that open at night — mix them in with silver-foliaged day bloomers.
NIGHT BLOOMING PLANTS
- Moonflower: Yes, it should be painfully obvious, but the Moonflower really does bloom at night. It releases a slightly lemony scent when it opens up, and during the day the white flowers are tightly shut. Some species of this climbing plant, a cousin of the Morning Glory, can get up to eight feet long*. The flowers, when open, are around 5 – 6″ in diameter.
- Evening Primrose: This perennial spreads rapidly, and can cover a lot of ground for you. The pale pinkish-white flowers open at dusk, and release a sweet aroma.
- Night Phlox: these pretties open up at dusk, and have a fragrance reminiscent of honey or vanilla.
- Evening Stock: the tiny purple and pink flowers aren’t very fancy, but they smell divine when they open at night.
- Angel’s Trumpet: Another vine, this annual spreads like crazy. Its trumpet-shaped, white flowers have a bell-like appearance when open.
- Night Gladiolus: this plant isn’t actually nocturnal, but that’s when the creamy yellow flowers smell the strongest — it’s a very spicy scent that’s a glorious addition to any night garden.
Moonflowers only bloom at night and the bloom is wilted by morning. They have a really sweet, heavenly smell… here is a video of a blooming moonflower timelapse:
DAY BLOOMING WHITE AND SILVER PLANTS
- Dusty Millers
- Silver Thyme
- Lamb’s Ears
- Mugwort (Artemesia)
- Silver Sage
- White vegetables such as Alba eggplants or Baby Boo or Lumina pumpkins
HERBS AND FLOWERS WITH LUNAR CONNECTIONS
- Camphor
- Eucalyptus
- Gardenia
- Jasmine
- Moonwort
- Sandalwood
- Willow
- Water Lily
- Sleepwort
WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR MOON GARDEN PLANTS
When you have plants that have blossomed under the powerful energy of a full moon, the possibilities are just about endless. Harvest the flowers and dry them to use in talismans or charms. Use them to dress a Moon Candle or as part of a purification bath. Include them in incense blends to help enhance your intuition and wisdom.
*Note: Be sure to provide a trellis or other support for climbers like the Moonflower. If they don’t have a stable surface to hang onto, they’re less likely to fully bloom.
White flowers for Moon Garden (Video)
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