Most summer gardens have to be observed in the daytime for us to really appreciate their beauty. But if you love to spend your summer nights outside, a moon backyard can help you create an outdoor area that is just as enjoyable in the starlight because it’s in sunlight.
Sweet Dirt Designs
Moon gardens contain white flowers and foliage which glow beneath moonlight. Place these luminous plants for the best accompaniment to outside evening entertaining.
Like all plants, a number of them will have different sun requirements during daylight hours. But all tend to function best in spots that get lots of sun during the day.
Kim Gamel
Pennisetum ‘Skyrocket’
A nice surprise to your container design is Pennisetum ‘Skyrocket’, including thin blades of grass with white margins. It grows up to two feet tall, not as big as some other annual grasses.
Common name: Fountain grass
USDA zone: N/A; annual
Light requirement: Full sun
Water requirement: Medium moisture
Size: 1 1/2 to two feet tall and 1 foot to 1 1/2 feet wide
Kim Gamel
Angelonia angustifolia
Angelonia, which comes in white as well as other colours, is a fantastic selection for warm and humid locations. It includes spires of continuous blooming flowers from spring to fall and provides fine height to containers.
Common name: Angelonia
USDA zkinds: 9 to 11 (find your zone)
Light requirement: Full sun
Water requirement: Medium moisture
Size: 9 to 18 inches tall and wide
Inga Munsinger Cotton
Mandevilla
If you have a trellis or a different support arrangement, you might try Mandevilla. When grown in containers, this blossom will generally reach 3 to 5 ft tall in a growing season, making it another fantastic way to add height to containers. With big, white, funnel-shaped flowers, Mandevilla glows brightly on a moonlit night.
USDA zkinds: 10 to 11
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Water requirement:Medium moisture
Size: 3 to 10 feet tall and 2 to 6 ft wide
Kim Gamel
Petunia
One of those best-selling summer annuals, petunias are well-known for their easy maintenance and nonstop blooms from spring through frost. There are several unique varieties available at nurseries; a few have a mounding habit, while some distribute, so be sure to acquire the appropriate selection for your container.
USDA zkinds: 10 to 11
Light requirement: Full sun
Waterrequirement: Medium moisture
Size: 9 to 12 inches tall and 1 to 3 ft wide
IKEA
Gardenia Jasminoides Potted Plant – $12.99
Gardenia jasminoides
If you are a lover of strong, sweet odor, you might want to try out gardenia on your container garden. Sometimes regarded as a diva, gardenias can be finicky about their growing conditions. But with the stunning, sweet-smelling flowers, the benefits outweigh the labour.
Common name: Gardenia
USDA zkinds: 8 to 11
Light requirement: Partial shade
Waterrequirement: Medium moisture
Size: 5 to 6 ft tall and wide
Kim Gamel
Brugmansia
Brugmansia is just another big white-flowered plant using a heavenly scent which makes an appearance just in the evening. In many portions of the U.S., Brugmansia has to be wintered inside. Growing it in a container makes this chore somewhat easier.
USDA zkinds: 8 to 10
Light requirement: Full sun
Waterrequirement: Medium moisture
Size: 5 to 10 feet tall and 3 to 5 ft wide
Kim Gamel
Hosta
A variegated hosta is a fantastic selection for your container, because its leaves will reveal the moonlight even if its flowers are not in bloom. Keep it to a wonderful little mound for a filler to your container garden; ‘So Sweet’ (shown) is a terrific variety for moon glow.
USDA zones: 3 to 8
Light requirement: Partial shade to full colour
Waterrequirement: Medium moisture
Size: 6 to 9 inches tall and 9 to 12 inches wide
HOPE DESIGNS
Impatiens hawkeri
If continuous white blossoms are everything you’re searching for in a shadowed place, white New Guinea impatiens will do just fine. Their dark, glistening leaves look magnificent in daytime but disappear at night, which makes the flowers look as though they’re floating.
Common name: New Guinea impatiens
USDA zkinds: 10 to 12
Light requirement: Partial sun to shade
Waterrequirement: Medium moisture
Size: 1 foot to two feet tall and wide
Jeffrey Erb Landscape Design
Carex ‘Ice Dance’
Carex ‘Ice Dance’ includes thin, strappy leaves with white margins.The feel of the grass-like leaves mixes well with broad leaves of hosta or Heuchera.
Common name: Sedge
USDA zones: 5 to 9
Light requirement: Partial sun to shade
Waterrequirement: moderate to moist moisture
Size: 9 to 12 inches tall and 1 foot to two feet wide
Brunnera
The silvery-white leaves of Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ (shown) and ‘Looking Glass’ are glowing beneath a moonlit sky. As a perennial Brunnera can be implanted in the backyard as summertime. From the early spring you may enjoy the pale blue forget-me-not flowers during the daytime.
Common name: Siberian bugloss
USDA zkinds: 3 to 7
Light requirement: Partial shade
Waterrequirement: Medium moisture
Size: 9 to 18 inches tall and 6 to 18 inches wide
Kim Gamel
Plectranthus forsteri
The spreading habit of Plectranthus forsteri is perfect for spilling over the edge of containers. The white edges of this variegated plant light up at night time.
Common name: Swedish ivy
USDA zkinds: 10 to 11
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Waterrequirement: Dry to moderate moisture
Size: 9 to 12 inches tall and 1 foot to 3 feet wide
Longer guides to lovely white flowers