Outdoor spaces let you enjoy your home beyond the walls, including at night. Enhance your outdoor living by planting a moon garden - a garden designed for evening enjoyment, filled with night-blooming flowers.
Consider these delightful night-blooming flowers that unfurl in the moonlight: fragrant jasmine, evening-scented stock, luminous moonflowers on vining trellises, and gardenias releasing intense perfume.
Like many cacti, the dragonfruit cactus blooms at night. Its large, showy flowers can be up to 14 inches long and 9 inches wide. The flowers have many petals in a tubular shape and are usually white, but can also be pink or red depending on the type. They give off a sweet, intoxicating fragrance at night to attract bat pollinators.
The flowers close up the next day in the heat. This night blooming cactus produces the dragonfruit found in grocery stores, especially in the Southern U.S. Both the flowers and fruit are edible. One cactus can bloom and produce fruit multiple times per season.
2. Evening Primrose
Evening primrose is better known as a supplement than for its flowers. It is a fast-growing plant native to North America that blooms at night. As a biennial, it won't flower the first year, but then self-seeds to bloom yearly after that.
The delicate yellow flowers have four petals and a sweet, lemony scent that attracts moth pollinators at night. The blooms open in the evening and close in the morning sun. To prevent self-seeding, you can snip off the spent flowers on this dainty little night blooming primrose.
Angel's Trumpet is a small tree that originated in South America but is now extinct in the wild. It is widely grown as an ornamental plant and has stunning large flowers. These evergreen plants can grow up to 30 feet tall or can be kept smaller in containers.
The flowers that give Angel's Trumpet its name are huge - 6 to 24 inches long! They are trumpet-shaped and hang down like twirling skirts. The flowers open at night, last 1-3 days, and release their fragrance to attract moth pollinators.
However, every part of this beautiful plant is poisonous to people and pets, so use caution if you have children or animals around. With proper care, the magical Angel's Trumpet flowers are a breathtaking sight.
4. Devil’s Trumpet
The devil's trumpet plant is poisonous like angel's trumpet, so be careful planting it around pets and kids. Its upright flowers look similar to angel's trumpet, but are usually white with lavender or pink edges instead of hanging down. Devil's trumpet is related to tomatoes and eggplants.
When planted in full sun, it grows thick bluish shrub-like foliage. It can also grow in partial shade but may get spindly and flower less. The honeysuckle-scented flowers open at night to attract moth pollinators. While beautiful, caution is needed with this toxic plant.
Chocolate daisy is a low-maintenance perennial that blooms for many months, from spring through fall. Native to the Southwestern U.S., it is drought-tolerant and can grow in zones 4-10. The pretty yellow flowers bloom in the evening but smell most chocolatey and fragrant in the early morning hours.
With a compact size of just 1-2 feet tall and wide, chocolate daisies make a nice border plant for patios or walkways. Deadheading the flowers encourages this member of the aster family to rebloom continuously. In warmer climates, it can potentially bloom year-round. Easy to care for with a delightful morning scent.
6. Easter Lily Cactus
For most of the year, the Easter Lily Cactus appears as a charming little mound of spheres covered in ribs and sharp spines. But come springtime, this award-winning cactus truly shines. Green stems about a foot tall emerge from the cluster, topped with large, fragrant white or pink lily-like flowers.
These stunning blooms unfurl their petals in the cool of the late afternoon, only to wither the following day once temperatures rise again. A mature plant can produce up to a dozen of these magnificent, fleeting inflorescences throughout spring and into summer.
Hardy and resistant to pests and disease, Easter Lily Cacti can even tolerate cold winter conditions as long as they remain dry. Yet they also make excellent container specimens to be enjoyed indoors when inclement weather strikes.
An elusive and fascinating addition to any succulent garden, the deer horn or Arizona Queen of the Night cactus cuts an unassuming figure for most of the year - thin, branching arms covered in small spines, blending among other cacti.
But once annually, this native of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts puts on a crowning glory - large, waxy white flowers that unfurl in the night and remain open only until the following day's first pollinators arrive.
Heavily fragrant with their abundance of petals, these fleeting blooms are a blink-and-you'll-miss-it spectacle. Their pollination is followed by slender, edible red fruits that attract birds and other wildlife. While inconspicuous most days, the deer horn cactus' ephemeral, nocturnal display is an enchanting treat for the patient gardener.
8. Casa Blanca Lily
The Casa Blanca lily unfurls its large 6-8 inch petals in the evening hours, releasing an intoxicatingly sweet fragrance into the air. As an oriental hybrid, it grows 3-4 feet tall on sturdy stems that can support up to 8 of these magnificent flowers clustered together.
The blooms have excellent vase life, lasting up to 2 weeks if conditions are ideal, so there's no need to choose between adorning your garden or indoor spaces. Let their glowing white presence illuminate both the sun-dappled days and moon-lit nights while perfuming the air with their intoxicating scent.
Prolific and long-lasting, the stunning Casa Blanca guarantees a breathtaking floral display no matter which way you decide to enjoy it.
This beautiful prairie flower is a type of amaryllis that grows from bulbs across the central United States. It prefers full sun but tolerates some shade. Its lovely white flowers bloom in the evening, making them perfect for moon gardens.
The blossoms last several days and attract bees and butterflies with their nectar. After rain, new flowers often appear white then gradually turn pink as they age. The flowers also have a pleasing fragrance. With their evening blooms, color changes, and sweet scent, these amaryllis enliven gardens at night.
10. Foamflower
Foamflower, also called Tiarella, gets its name from the frothy white flower spikes that sprout from its red and green foliage. This eye-catching plant makes a great addition to gardens, growing in a mounding shape that looks beautiful alone or grouped.
Its bottlebrush-like flowers bloom at night but stay open during the day, releasing a light fragrance that attracts pollinators. An Award of Garden Merit winner, foamflower is evergreen in mild climates but its leaves turn bronze in cooler areas. It blooms for around 6 weeks in late spring to early summer.
Four O'Clocks are nostalgic, long-popular garden plants. These small, bushy plants make excellent borders for patios or walkways, especially for evening enjoyment. They produce an abundance of brightly colored, fragrant flowers in many shades.
The blooms uniquely open in late afternoon as temperatures cool with the setting sun. In warm southern regions, they flower in spring, while cooler areas see blooming in summer. The fragrant, colorful flowers first attract pollinators in the morning before wilting from the midday heat. Then a new wave blooms in the evening hours.
Mock orange is a large, densely-leaved shrub that makes an excellent privacy hedge. It gets its name from its white flowers that resemble orange blossoms. The fragrant white blooms attract butterflies and other pollinators. These shrubs have an intense bloom period in May and June.
Clusters of four-petaled white flowers open successively at night over several weeks. When in full bloom, a mock orange shrub is a stunning sight, practically glowing in the moonlight at night. Their night-blooming fragrant flowers, dense foliage, and luminous night-time display make mock oranges wonderful flowering hedge plants.
13. Night Phlox
Night phlox are excellent additions to evening gardens with their fragrant, colorful blooms in white, purple and deep red shades. Their unique scent blends notes of honey, vanilla, almond and spice.
The Midnight Candy variety is especially lovely. Its deep red buds open to pure white flowers at dusk, releasing a wonderful spicy-sweet fragrance as they bloom.
Night phlox are related to snapdragons. They prefer rich, well-drained soil and stay compact, making them ideal for filling spaces between larger plants. With their night-blooming habits, colors and intoxicating scents, night phlox enliven evening gardens.
For moon gardens with water features, consider the aquatic Red Flare plant. It has very large (11-12 inch) reddish-brown leaves that float on the water's surface. The blooms are huge (7-10 inches wide) and a deep, rich pink/red color. These flowers bloom at night for 3-4 days before closing during the day.
Blooming is prolific from summer through fall. As fall cools, the flowers stay open longer. This night flower needs full sun but protection from wind in undisturbed water. Its large leaves, showy night-bloom, and long flowering season make it an outstanding water plant for evening gardens.
15. Tuberose
Tuberose is a beloved flower renowned for its intense fragrance. Hardy only in non-freezing climates, the bulbs can be planted in spring and dug up in fall for winter storage in zones 7-9 which have long enough summers. North of zone 7, they are unlikely to bloom well due to insufficient warm weather needed for flowering.
These night plants are succulent-like, requiring full sun, well-drained soil, and infrequent watering. Their night-blooming flowers are prized for use in perfumery, with a long history dating back to Marie Antoinette's era. While no longer found in the wild, tuberose remains a popular cultivated fragrant flower today.
Though "Moonflower" sometimes refers to Datura, here it means Ipomoea alba, a cousin of morning glories and sweet potatoes. This vining night blooming plants can climb up to 30 feet. Moonflower vines make an elegantly delicate statement when grown on a trellis or arched entryway.
The large white flowers open at night, releasing a sweet, subtle fragrance that attracts pollinating moths. Even when not blooming, the vine's heart-shaped leaves are charming. With its night-blooming fragrant white flowers, vining habit, and attractive foliage, the Moonflower is an excellent plant for creating enchanting evening garden spaces.
17. Night Blooming Jasmine
Cestrum nocturnum or night blooming jasmine is a delightful woody evergreen shrub. It produces an abundance of tubular white flowers that open in the evening, releasing an intoxicatingly beautiful fragrance.
The flowers close during the day but reopen each evening through summer into fall. The intense, far-traveling scent from this tropical beauty's night-blooms is one of its most prized traits. With its evening fragrance and flowers, it enlivens night gardens.
It is a high-maintenance epiphyte cactus, growing on tree branches rather than in soil. It prefers bright, filtered or indirect light. As a jungle plant, Queen of the Night likes higher humidity than most cacti, but infrequent watering every 2 weeks.
At home, grow it as a hanging plant. In gardens, use a container in colder climates below zone 10, bringing it indoors when temperatures drop below 50°F. In tropical zone 10+, you can tie this cactus to tree branches, mimicking its natural environment.
19. Gardenia Augusta
Gardenias are related to coffee plants, with similar glossy evergreen leaves. The Augusta variety produces stunning creamy white blossoms that open in a swirling, perfumed rosette shape. Hardy down to zone 8, gardenias can tolerate cold temperatures as low as 20°F.
While not strictly night-blooming, gardenias release their intense fragrance more strongly in the evening. This makes them excellent for moon gardens, where their white flowers glow in moonlight and scent the air.
With unrivaled fragrance, Augusta gardenias are a must-have. The flowers that bloom at night also make great container plants.
Despite being an annual that needs replanting yearly, night-scented stock is well worth growing for its wonderful traits. This low-maintenance, fast-growing plant has a long bloom time and lovely lavender flowers.
Night-scented stock appears delicate, with grass-like leaves and profuse, graceful fragrant blooms opening in the evenings throughout summer. The flowers make long-lasting cut flowers too. A European native, it prefers full sun except in hot climates where afternoon shade is beneficial.
