|
Echinacea coconut lime |
|
Caraway |
Night Scents
Over the years, I have come to appreciate the
more
subtle floral colors, not for their daytime hues, but for how magical
they become after sunset, even in simple starlight. A moonlit garden
has a different set of fragrances—some subtle, some pronounced. In the
heat of the day, many essences are lost to our senses because the heat
evaporates them so quickly. At night, they are considerably more
noticeable. Dianthus, which has a lovely, clove-scented fragrance by
day, is absolutely delicious at night.
|
Allysums |
A
moonlight garden should have lots of fragrant things to smell,
including plants to walk on along the pathways. Creeping thymes, such
as caraway and lemon thyme, are good additions. You might not even
notice their scents in the daylight, but at night, when your senses are
more attuned, you will be aware of the fragrances as you walk.
|
Shasta daisey |
Seeing By Night
I
have light-colored gravel pathways in my garden—unremarkable by day;
lighted walks by moonlight. In the background, I have a little
fish-pond fountain, and the trickling water adds a peaceful backdrop to
the allure of the garden.
Plants such as the often-overlooked
yucca even change shape after dark. In the daytime, the waxy,
cream-colored blossoms hang down like bells. But at night, when the air
has cooled, the flowers turn somewhat upward, releasing their scent to
attract the moths that pollinate them.
Simpler elements of my
garden, such as a light-gray limestone bench, look most inviting by the
full moon. During the day, there are often so many interruptions,
noises and responsibilities that I seldom get to sit and enjoy my
garden. But at night, when the world is quiet and others’ demands on my
time have ceased, I like to retreat to my nighttime garden. Many times
I’ve sat on the bench with a midnight snack, enjoying the serenity.
|
Artemisia stelliria |
|
HollyHock |
|
Artemisia Schimidtiana
|
There
are myriad plants to choose from that magically transform themselves
from almost invisible in sunlight to glowing performers at night. Any
plant you choose with the name ‘Alba’ after it will be white, such as
rose campion (
Lychnis coronaria ‘Alba’), for example, or
Dianthus deltoides ‘Alba’.
White, yellow and pink hollyhocks shine like subtle beacons, even in
starlight. Glowing additions such as the white echinaceas, like ‘White
Swan’ and ‘Fragrant Angel’, seem to pop into heightened reality at
night. Angel’s trumpets (
Datura inoxia), white salvia (
Salvia coccinea ‘Snow Nymph’) and Shasta daisies all show up like little walkway lights.
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