Moonlight Magic: How to Create a Moon Garden

What is a moon garden? It is exactly what it sounds like. A beautiful, romantic, luminous, and fragrant garden that comes to life at twilight and glows under the silver light of the moon. It is somewhere to reflect at the end of the day, somewhere quiet to sit with your own thoughts as the rest of the world sleeps. A moon garden is a special garden design that uses a variety of night-shift flowers and foliage for their reflective beauty and wonderful fragrances. With a little planning you can design your own magical moon garden; the most important thing to keep in mind is finding the place in your yard that receives the best light from the moon. Choose an area that is not shadowed by fences, buildings, or trees. You will also be able to enjoy your moon garden from indoors if you can choose an area that can be easily viewed from a window.

For a garden that glows through Summer, Fall, and Spring; choose annuals and perennials in a variety of whites and creams. Choose shrubs and trees that flower at different times of the year. For example, Summer flowers could include: white bellflower, baby's breath, and falsespires. Dogwood, white tulips, freesia, rhododendrons, and snowdrops all flower during the Spring. And boltonia and bugbone bloom from Summer to Fall. For moon garden fragrance, consider Jasmine (light and fresh) or flowering tobacco (sweet and heavy) that become more fragrant in the evening. You can also enhance the glowing flower effects with mixed foliage with different textured leaves and shades. The silvery-gray leaves of Lamb's ears, lavender and sage are all popular for moon gardens and will add dimension.

Once you've picked your spot under the moon and chosen an illuminating selection of flowers and foliage, you can add to your garden by experimenting with the placement of white landscape rock or maybe add some twinkle lights to an existing tree. A water fountain or other water feature would also add to the peaceful mood of your moon garden, not only with the sound but also in the way it will reflect light. One of my recent additions to my moon garden is a small windchime, even when I can't see the actual garden; I can hear the windchimes outside and I am reminded of how pretty it is.

To complete the experience, you can always add a simple and natural pathway that leads to a chair or cute garden bench; where as soon as night falls you can enjoy the beautiful transformation of an evening oasis.

Moon Garden Essentials

Dusty Miller
Artemisia
Lamb's Ear
Moon Flowers
Jasmine Tobacco
White Angels Trumpet
Honeysuckle
White Carnations
Daisies
Superwhite Candy Tufts