Savor the Garden at Night
If you love escaping to the garden after the sun sets, it’s time to create a beautiful nighttime garden to enjoy.
There’s something magical about a nighttime garden. Whether you’re strolling through your yard on a late-night dog walk, chasing fireflies with the kiddos, or searching the skies for a shooting star, the night garden offers a beautiful escape! Sitting by the pool sipping an after-dinner cocktail, or roasting marshmallows at the firepit with your family, enjoying the garden at night offers a soothing transition to unwind from a hectic day.
Add Bright Colored Plants
While we carefully plan color palettes and garden design for front yard curb appeal, how often do we consider creating a garden that shines when the sun goes down? Some gardeners create a “moon garden,” planting white flowers that reflect moonlight. But a nighttime garden creates even more beauty to enjoy.
Try adding plants with variegated foliage and light-colored flowers that reflect moonlight. Fragrant flowers, comfortable seating, outdoor lighting, and water features all help add ambiance to a night garden. And, as temperatures continue to rise, you may find yourself spending more time in the cooler night garden than during sweltering summer days.
Choose Plants to Brighten a Night Garden
Plants in a night garden lean toward light-colored flowers and variegated foliage. In addition to white plants, choose flowers in lighter shades of yellow, pink, orange, or silvery blue—as well as white. Light-colored flowers shine in the moonlight, brightening your night garden, but the varied hues also look lovely by day.
Along with flowers, choose shrubs with interesting, variegated foliage in shades of white, yellow, and light green. When flowers fade, the lovely leaves offer secondary interest, glowing in the moonlight.
You can also add plants with silvery leaves to create lightness and dimension in the night garden. Balance the design with an assortment of shrubs, perennials, annuals, and vines to reflect light and create intrigue in the night garden.
Perfume the Night Air
As darkness falls and vision becomes obscured, other senses heighten. Fragrant flowers create luscious scents to enjoy as you relax in the garden.
Known to reduce stress and encourage restful sleep, aromatherapy helps you relax from the day’s busy-ness and unwind before bed. Lounging in a night garden filled with fragrance makes the perfect pre-sleep ritual.
Create Soothing Sounds
Invite Wildlife into the Night Garden
The rustle of grasses and leaves, as well as the subtle splashing of water, also adds to a rich sensory environment in the night garden. A pond or fountain not only reflects light from the moon, but you may also spy evening visitors in the garden.
When the sun dips below the horizon, nocturnal creatures come out to play—and adding a water source to the garden not only attracts birds and pollinators during the day, it also encourages evening visitors like opossums, racoons, owls, and bats to your garden.
Particularly during summer droughts, wildlife need clean sources of water, and your evening visitors will appreciate a sip from your pond or fountain. If you’re concerned about mosquitoes breeding in a pond, add a few fish to snack on the larvae.
Did you know that one small brown bat can consume more than 6,000 mosquito-sized insects in a night?
So, if you see a bat flitting through your nighttime garden, relax and enjoy the free pest control!
Add Cozy Elements to the Night Garden
It’s important to remember to turn off outdoor lights during peak bird migration periods, some subtle accents lights add ambiance during summer nights. Festive patio lights, pretty but practical pathway lights, or artistically lit elements create shadows and mystery in the garden.
Along with lighting, comfortable furniture makes searching the night sky for celestial events easier. Add a small table near your chair, and you’ll enjoy a convenient spot to place a glass of wine or a pre-bedtime cup of tea. As the weather cools, bundle up with a pretty blanket to keep you warm while you savor the night garden.
Select Plants for a Vibrant, Fragrant Night Garden
While you’ll find thousands of plants that look lovely in a night garden, we’ve selected a few of our favorites with variegated foliage, light-colored blooms, and fragrant flowers to get you started:
Shrubs
SUNTASTIC® Pink Abelia (Abelia x grandiflora nana)
Tidy compact Abelia with colorful hot flamingo pink-toned foliage is especially colorful in the cooler months. Blush pink foliage has creamy yellow margins for nighttime visibility. Fragrant white tubular flowers from mid-summer-fall lends itself to a fragrant garden.
Size: 2-3 feet tall, 5 feet wide
Light: Full sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: 6 to 9
Sweet Star® Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides)
Blooming into late summer and early fall, Sweet Star® is covered in single flowers starting early May. Excellent rebloom throughout summer then flowers are followed by pretty orange fruit. Nicely rounded plants stay very compact in habit.
Size: 3-5 feet tall, 4-5 feet wide
Light: Full sun to part sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: 7 to 9
Illuminati Sparks™ Mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius)
Green foliage dotted with cheery yellow variegation adds interest to the garden all season, while the fragrant, white flowers feed pollinators by day, add delicious fragrance to the garden, and brighten the night garden.
Size: 4 feet tall, 4 feet wide
Light: Part sun to full sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4b to 7b
Perennials
‘Jack Frost’ Brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla)
This classic shade perennial sports leaves with a heavy frosting of silver and dark veining, making it a terrific addition to the night garden. Cute blue “forget-me-not”-type flowers add to its charm.
Size: 12 inches tall, 12 inches wide
Light: Shade to part shade
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3a to 8a
‘Fire and Ice’ Hosta (Hosta spp.)
Light up the night garden with a brilliant burst of fire! Named for the flame-shaped white centers of the leaves, this unique hosta variety produces pretty lavender flowers in late summer. You’ll find many variegated hostas to brighten your night garden. After all, it’s the Year of the Hosta!
Size: 10 to 15 inches tall, 15 inches wide
Light: Shade to part-sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3a to 9b
Casablanca Lily (Lilium oriental)
If you’re looking to perfume your entire garden, add the sweet-spicy fragrance of Casablanca lilies. Pure white, colossal 8 to 10-inch blooms light up the night garden, reflecting moonlight while providing an intoxicating fragrance. Celebrate the Year of the Lily by adding this beauty to your night garden.
Size: 36 to 48 inches tall, 9 to 12 inches wide
Light: Full sun to part sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3a to 8b
If you have large, mature trees in your garden, consider adding an owl box.
Not only will you enjoy watching your new feathered residents, but owls provide excellent rodent control, too. Check with the National Audubon Society to learn which owls reside in your area, then select the appropriate owl box to attract them to your garden. (FYI: It may take a year or two before an owl inhabits the space.)
Annuals
Angelonia Alonia™ Big Bicolor Pink Improved (Angelonia angustifolia)
If you’re looking for an easy-to-grow annual to brighten beds or containers in the night garden, celebrate the Year of the Angelonia with a bicolored beauty. Drought-tolerant and low maintenance, this “summer snapdragon” will quickly fill garden spaces, reflecting the moon’s glow.
Size: 14 to 16 inches tall, 12 to 14 inches wide
Light: Full sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: 10 to 11, grown as annual
Indian Peace Pipe Nicotiana (Nicotiana sylvestris)
A lovely multipurpose plant. The tubular flowers attract pollinators by day, with the fragrance strongest in late afternoon and evening. The brilliant white flowers glow beautifully under a moonlit sky, but the plant looks terrific by day, too.
Size: 4 to 6 feet tall, 24 inches wide
Light: Full sun to part shade
USDA Hardiness Zone: 10 to 11, grown as annual
The Sure Shot petunias are bright white with a light fragrance and the most prolific petunias for any garden condition! Their vibrant white blooms cover the plants, attracting bees and other pollinators to their lightly fragrant blossoms. It’s an AAS Winner too!
Size: 8 to 10 inches tall
Light: Full sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: Grown as annual
Vines
The petals are white (with hints of softest yellow toward the center), surrounding a bold black eye. And the blooms are VERY profuse, simply covering this 5 to 8 foot vine over a long early summer to frost season.
Size: 8 feet tall
Light: Full sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: 10-11 Grown as annual
Snow Storm Clematis (Clematis x ‘Fragrant Star’)
With pure white blooms, dreams become a reality. Enjoy an exceptionally long blooming season with cascading large, wavy flowers. Clematis Snow Storm creates a visual statement for your nighttime garden.
Size: 5 to 9 feet tall
Light: Full sun to part sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9
Madagascar Jasmine (Stephanotis floribunda)
Clusters of pure white, tubular flowers shine in moonlight, climbing trellises or fences. But you’ll want to plant this for the delicious fragrance—one of the reasons many florists chose to use it in wedding bouquets.
Size: 15 to 20 feet tall
Light: Part sun
USDA Hardiness Zone: 9a-11b
Are you ready to create an inviting night garden to chase away the day’s stress? Surround yourself with beautiful, fragrant blooms and glowing plants to relax and enjoy your nighttime retreat.
Do you know that National Garden Bureau members include the most innovative breeders and distributors of fabulous flowers, shrubs, and accessories ideal for a nighttime garden? If you’re looking to create a lovely after-dark retreat, check out the many options available from National Garden Bureau members.
About National Garden Bureau
Founded more than 100 years ago, the National Garden Bureau educates, inspires, and motivates people to grow home gardens. National Garden Bureau members are horticultural experts, and the information shared with you comes directly from these experts to ensure your gardening success.
“This post is provided as an educational/inspirational service of the National Garden Bureau and our members. Please credit and link to National Garden Bureau and author member when using all or parts of this article.”
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This article shares wonderful ideas for creating a relaxing and inviting nighttime garden. The practical tips on plant selection, lighting, fragrance, and garden design make it easy to imagine a peaceful outdoor retreat. It’s an inspiring guide for anyone looking to enjoy their garden long after the sun goes down.