Monday, March 29, 2010

Home Grown Annuals 2009; The Night Garden

Have you ever planted a "night garden" of flowers that bloom after dark? There are many reasons to do this: the blooms smell great, look nice, and attract cool pollinators like this White-Lined Sphinx moth. My night blooming varieties were purchased as a "Night Blooming Seed Collection" from Select Seeds , plus I added another white flower or two.


After all, it wasn't just about veggies last year...I planted lots of flowers as well. This is borage.... ....and this fuzzy "claw" belongs to....



...woodland tobacco (Nicotania sylvestris).



Here's my other tobacco, jasmine tobacco (Nicotania alata)....guess it likes this pot! It will bloom as a much shorter specimen, too.







This cosmos 'Psyche White' was very popular with the bees, fortunately I planted it in several spots around the yard.



It blooms beautifully all summer...




....as did this adorable night phlox 'Midnight Candy'. These teeny little flowers smelled wonderful....


.....and all the night garden cast members were favorites with the local insect population. This flower is pretty even while closed, IMO.........and while it's opening....
....but most gorgeous when fully opened! This is Datura wrightii that I grew from seed sent to me by a dear friend in Texas, and it has the most heavenly scent!




Doesn't this bloom seem to "strike a pose"?


Like Madonna said, "...there's nothing to it-Vogue!"
Last but not least, this is 'Miss Jeckyll' love-in-a-mist. While she isn't big in the fragrance department, she does bring something to the table...
....efficient and generous seed-setting!

Now that's a quality I've come to appreciate more and more :)

9 comments:

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

I adore that night phlox, too. I love its tight purple buds and the shape of the white flowers. I forgot to save seed from it last year, but am consoling myself that it might not have been true to the parent, anyway. The company I bought it from doesn't seem to exist any more. My favorite nighttime pollinator is the bat, but the bats in MI are all insect eaters, not nectar eaters. Though killing mosquitoes is A-#1 on my list, too. Go, bats! :)

lisa said...

Had you grown the night phlox before last yaer? My source listed it as perennial....maybe yours will come back! I love bats too, I want to get another bat house to be a better host :)

Laurel said...

Great photos!

Susan (aka Sunny) said...

Nice pictures!

Knatolee said...

I've been wanting to try a night garden and this is just beautiful!

And I illustrated a sphinx moth for a children's book! They are so cool.

lisa said...

I say go for it! I have bought plants in the past too, but seeds are easy and MUCH cheaper. Very cool that you illustrated a children's book, I bet that was fun!

Anonymous said...

Very nice Night Garden!
Don't you wish you could bottle the scent of that datura? :)
I sowed the nicotiana seeds you sent and I have sprouts!
v.

Rurality said...

Nice! I want a night garden now. :)

lisa said...

V-Thank you! If they had a perfume made from the fragrance of any of these night garden flowers, I'd wear it for sure!

Karen-I say go for it! Easy as pie :)