How to Create a Night Blooming Garden

You want a garden, but what fun is it to spend your weekend planting flowers when you are gone all the time? By the time you get home from work, the flowers are gone. Sure, you can enjoy them on the weekend, but there is an even better solution: Plant a night blooming garden, one that comes to life at dusk. A good night blooming garden will make use of three types of plants: night-flowering plants, night-fragrant plants and white or reflective plants.

Instructions

1. When choosing plants, stay away from bright colors. The colors will become dull and muddy.

2. Plant flowers that bloom at night such as Evening Primrose (Oenothera), Angel's Trumpet (Datura innoxia), 'Casa Blanca' Oriental Lily (Lilium Casa Blanca), Daylilies (Hemerocallis), Nottingham Catchfly (Silene nutans) and Yucca (Yucca filamentosa).

3. Plant a few plants that bloom and produce fragrance such as Night Blooming Cereus (Selenicereus), Night Gladiolus (Gladiolus tristus), Nicotiana or Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana alata), August Lily (Hosta), Night Phlox (Phlox Midnight Candy), or Four O'Clock (Mirabilis jalapa ). They have the benefit of blooming at night and producing beautiful scents. Be careful not to choose too many as they might overpower.

4. No night garden would be complete without planting some jasmine. Two of the best choices for a strong night scent are the star jasmine (Jasminum nitidum) and the pink jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum).

5. A few plants particularly showy but produce a nice enough scent that they should be considered. These plants include Fairy Lily (Chlidanths fragrans), Fragrant Columbine (Aquilegia fragrans), Pinks (Dianthus plumarius) and Evening Stock (Matthiola incana). These should be used with caution if planting some of the flowers from Step 3 or 4.

6. Plant night-blooming vines on walls and fences. Some great choices include the Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala petiolaris), Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis paniculata), Moonflower (Ipomoea alba) and Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).

7. Plant a few plants with white flowers. They will reflect the light and provide a beautiful landscape during the day. These plants include Candytuft, White Japanese Anemones, Snowdrops, Lily-of-the-Valley, Ox-Eye Daisy, Shasta Daisy, White Bleeding Heart, Lilies and Snow-on-the-Mountain.

8. Choose plants with white or silver foliage such as Licorice Plant (Helichrysum petiolare), Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina), Flashy Lady Dusty Miller (Centaurea gymnocarpa), Heigh-Ho Silver Plectranthus (Plectranthus coleoides), Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), Variegated Ribbon Grass (Phalaris) and Silver Queen Artemisia (Artemisia ludoviciana). These plants will add contrast to and serve as background for your flowers.

9. Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius), Night Blooming Jessamine (Cestrum nocturnum) and Gardenia (Gardenia augusta) are three bushes that bloom at night. These are optional additions to your night garden.

10. Plant any of these plants in your garden. Then wait for the sun to come down and enjoy.