The stunning, delicate beauty of a moon or night time garden is unique and timeless. Learn how to select plants for a moonlight garden and design your garden.

When designing a moonlight garden and selecting plants to include in it gardeners should consider a few landscape guidelines and elements to make the moonlight garden a success.

• Night Blooming Flowers

Use flowers that open at night to create visual interest in a moonlight garden. Some easy-to-grow flowers that open at night include Angel's Trumpet (Datura inoxia), Moonflower (Ipomoea alba), and Four-O-Clock (Mirabilis jalapa).

• Fragrant Flowers and Foliage

For a moonlight garden it is beneficial to include fragrant plants with scented flowers or aromatic foliage. This allows gardeners to enjoy the scents of a night time garden even when unable to view it in broad daylight. Try fragrant plants with scented flowers such as Roses (Rosa), Border Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) or Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis). Gardeners can also consider using plants with aromatic foliage like Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) and Thyme (Thymus spp.). See more fragrant plants for a scent garden.

• Silver, White or Variegated Foliage

Grey colored foliage plants will reflect the moonlight better and add to the subtle beauty of your night time garden. Variegated foliage with white or cream accents serve the same purpose, allowing the white streaks and stripes to pick up and reflect any light in the night. Silvery and white foliage also is pleasing to the eye during the day allowing the moonlight garden to serve as a focal point in both the daytime and the evening. See some Variegated Evergreen Shrubs that might be good for a moonlight garden.

• Textured Foliage Plants

The same way gardeners use fragrant perennial and annual plants in a moonlight garden to appeal to the sense of smell, gardeners can also use plants with textured foliage to appeal to the physical senses. Some plants with fuzzy or soft foliage include Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantine), Asparagus Fern (Asparagus deniflorus) and Wormwood (Artemisia spp.)

• White or Light Colored Flowers

Any of these fragrance garden plants would work nicely into a moonlight garden but light colored flowers in white, cream or pale pink and purple reflect the moonlight better than dark colored flowers. Some white flowering annual plants include Periwinkles (Vinca spp.), Nicotiana and Cosmos flowers. Perennial plants with white blooms for moonlight gardens include white sports of many familiar perennials such as Foxglove (Digitalis spp.), Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) and many others which will usually have “alba” in the botanical names. White roses and white-flowering trees also make good additions to a moonlight garden. See more about White Gardens.

For details about some of the specifc plants mentioned in this article see the Online Plant Encyclopedia

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