Most people plant their gardens according to how they will look in the warm sunlight — seeking a bright palette of colors that “pop” under the sun’s rays — but “moon gardens,” gardens designed to be enjoyed in the evening by moonlight, are growing in popularity. Moon gardens, also referred to as white gardens or night gardens, are not a new concept. “I’ve been planting them for about 15 years,” says Ellen Barredo, horticultural manager at Bowood Farms Nursery and Greenhouse in the Central West End. “You get home from work, then make dinner and by the time you get into the garden, it’s nighttime. They are also great for entertaining in the evenings. You can give garden tours at night.” For these reasons and more, moon gardens are a rising trend, particularly among busy young professionals who aren’t home during the day to enjoy their gardens. Moon gardens consist of a variety of plants with mostly white flowers mixed with silvery foliage, shimmering grasses and other plants that reflect or pick up the moonlight. White flowers are key, as the bright colors that show so well in the sun, become virtually invisible after nightfall. “I started noticing the trend toward night gardens about 2 1/2 years ago,” says Barredo. “I noticed a lot of young people, particularly those who live in the city, where it can be very dark, coming in looking for white plants as a way to lighten up their gardens and the city streetscape at night.” John McPheeters of Bowood Farms and Mary Morgan of The Plot Thickens, a landscape design company in St. Louis, helped design such a garden for one of the condominiums on Maryland Place in the Central West End. These stately old three-story homes are divided into condos, and the project’s developer, Jim Dwyer, and his wife, Nicki, live in one of them. A gardening enthusiast, Nicki decided to plant an all-white garden in front of their unit. “I’ve always loved a white garden and was aware of how great they look at night or in the early morning light,” Dwyer says. McPheeters and Morgan came up with a grid design for the garden, which the neighbors agreed upon. The plot consists of a series of squares divided by concrete. Each square is planted with a different variety of plants including tender perennials such as germander (wood sage) and white lantana, and white-blooming annuals such as miniature petunias and salvia. Liriope (also called lily turf) adds texture, while round evergreen bushes and tall, thin beech trees anchor the garden. Another unit several doors up features an all-white rose garden. “When planning a moon garden, you want to incorporate aspects of everything from a tree to a shrub to perennials and annuals for consistent bloom,” says Barredo. “Phlox, white geraniums and snapdragons are good choices. Tropicals like white angel’s trumpet also work well. And you don’t have to only stick with white. Chartreuse night gardens work well, too, because light green pops against the night — these can be great near a window that you look out in the evening.” The Bowood Farms team also spiced up the street corner at Euclid and McPherson avenues in front of Left Bank Books with a miniature moon garden to be enjoyed by the frequent passers-by. Chip Tynan, manager of the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Horticulture Answer Service and Post-Dispatch gardening columnist, recommends a few other plants that might be overlooked such as common milkweed (blooming in early summer) and flowering tobacco (Nicotiana), which is very fragrant. “The moonflower (in the morning glory family) is the backbone of a moon garden,” says Tynan. “The flowers don’t open until the sun sets, then they pop open before your eyes. They are great flowers to show children. Another interesting one is the cruel plant or moth plant, which is a fragrant night bloomer. Its flowers exude so much nectar that when moths come to pollinate it, the plant entraps the moths in its sticky nectar until morning and the moth’s thrashing as it’s trying to escape pollinates the plant.” Choosing the right plants is only one piece of the puzzle. Other factors contribute to the ambience of a moon garden and should be considered in planning. “In the darkness, all of our other senses are heightened, so it’s important to play to those senses,” says Mary Deweese, landscape architect and owner of Acorn Landscapes. She suggests incorporating a water feature such as a fountain or waterfall, plants that rustle in the breeze like tall grasses, or a wind chime with a low pitch for sound effects. “For touch and texture, provide luxurious, comfortable seating in which to relax and enjoy the garden. And to appeal to the sense of smell, choose some heavily fragrant plants like night-blooming jasmine,” says Deweese. She also recommends adding art to the garden, such as a sculpture of alabaster, marble or stainless steel to reflect the moonlight and add visual interest and dramatic flair. For a list of resources and plant identifiers to assist in planning your garden, visit the Missouri Botanical Garden’s gardening help page at www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantinfo.shtml or stop by the garden’s Kemper Center for Home Gardening. PERFECT FOR A MOON GARDEN Here are some white-flowering plants, trees and other silvery foliage that work well in moon gardens: • Zinnia ‘Polar Bear’ — All summer bloomer • Petunia ‘Vista Silverberry’ — All summer bloomer • Salvia coccinea ‘Snow Nymph’ — All summer bloomer • White pansy — Spring or fall, frost tolerant • Peony ‘Festiva Maxima’ — Spring blooming • Shasta daisy ‘Phyllis Smith’ — Mid-summer bloomer • Star Magnolia — Fragrant spring bloomer • ‘Dusty Miller’ — silver foliage annual • Tuberoses — Intensely fragrant night bloomers • Silver Eucalyptus — fragrant silvery foliage • Angel’s trumpet — Bloom in summer, frequently around full moon • White marigold ‘Kilimanjaro’ — summer blooming annual
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