It's so fun to enjoy your sunny
flower garden with an assortment of
colorful blooming flowers that really
give off all those great scents and
attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
But did you know that there are
some flowers that only bloom in
the evening or at night when the
temperatures cool down in the
moonlight then replaces the sunshine?
This morning on You Can Grow a Gym
tells us about a whole range of flowers
with beautiful blooms that only open
up during the long summer evenings.
They're just as fragrant as their
daylight cousins and beautiful
by the light of the moon.
Take a look.
Summer is officially here,
and with it those long,
pleasant evenings after a hot, sunny day.
But as the sunsets and the moon comes up,
other different beautiful
flowers begin to bloom,
offering sweet fragrances and attracting
nighttime pollinators of their own.
Here are a few that you can
grow in your own moon garden.
First, the
Moonflower. It's a perennial in warmer areas
but thrives as an annual here in Idaho.
It prefers full sun and
blooms in summer and fall.
Moonflower is a vining plant that grows
well on a trellis or arched entryway
and produces large white flowers
that open at night and have a sweet,
delicate fragrance.
Pollinating moths love them and it's
attractive heart-shaped green leaves
make for a very pretty plant during the
day when the flowers aren't in bloom.
4 O'clocks are also perennials,
although are grown as annuals
in cooler areas of Idaho.
They thrive in full sun and part shade,
and also bloom summer to fall.
They're called 4 o'clocks because they open
in the late afternoon and early evening.
Flowers from the previous
day wilt in the heat,
making way for new blossoms in the evening.
They grow as small shrubby plants and are
a nice addition to borders and patios,
blooming profusely in many different colors.
Chocolate Daisy is a low maintenance member
of the Astor family and will bloom for
months with cheery yellow flowers with
red centers that put out a chocolatey scent.
Is native to the southwest US,
so it's drought tolerant and thrives
in Idaho pollinator gardens.
They'll bloom from spring through
fall and full sun or part shade.
The flowers bloom at twilight
and are most fragrant near dawn.
Lake grows about 1:00 to 2 feet tall
and makes a good border for a walkway.
Night Flocks is a relative of
snapdragons planted in full sun,
and it will produce blossoms from
summer through fall in shades of white,
purple,
and deep red.
The flowers open around sunset,
releasing their distinctive fragrance
that's been described as honeyed vanilla
and almond with a touch of spice.
Night Flocks is an annual,
so it must be planted each year,
but it makes a great filler
between larger plants.
Here's an Idaho favorite.
In fact, it's our state flower,
the Syringa, or mock orange.
It's a deciduous shrub,
which means that it loses its
leaves in winter,
but it's very Hardy to all Idaho zones.
It's a large shrub with dense foliage,
so it makes a good privacy hedge.
The four petaled white flowers resemble
orange blossoms and are very fragrant.
The blossoms will open in succession at night
for several weeks through spring and summer.
In full bloom,
it almost glows in the moonlight.
Here's one you might recognize
from bridal bouquets.
The Casablanca Lily is prized for as large,
long lasting,
and fragrant white flowers that bloom from
mid to late summer in full sun or part shade.
The creamy white blooms unfurl
their petals in the evening,
releasing their fragrance,
and can remain open for up to two weeks.
This Lily grows 3 to 4 feet tall
with clusters of up to 8 large,
lustrous flowers,
but also tend to glow in the
moonlight as well as in sunshine.
Finally,
here are two night bloomers that are
similar but opposite at the same time.
But be careful where you plant
them if you have children and
pets because they are poisonous.
Angels Trumpet grows well in Idaho,
but only during the warm summer months.
The large trumpet shaped flowers are
6 to 12 inches long in colors from
white to yellow to pink and hang
downward from green leafy branches.
The flowers open at night and
last from one to four days,
and they're pollinated at night by moths.
In contrast is the Devil's trumpet,
sometimes known as Jimson weed.
Its flowers are similar to angels,
trumpets, but rather than hanging down,
they turn upwards.
They're usually white,
with bits of lavender or pink
on the throat and edges.
The plant has thick,
shrubby foliage with a blueish tint.
The flowers open in the evening
and smell like honeysuckle,
and it draws pollinators like
the giant sphinx Moth.
So there you go, some choices to
plant in your own moon garden,
where you can enjoy beautiful blooms
and rich fragrances in the long
summer evenings around sunset and
into the night, and you can grow it.
A white or light colored flowers
were at best at Moon Garden,
since they'll reflect the moonlight better.
But many daylight blooming flowers
will stay open through the night,
and they can be incorporated
into a Moon garden as well.
And these calm evenings with the cooler
air allows that fragrance
to really linger around.
So on the patio or out on the back porch,
you can smell those flowers in
the evening. Just so pretty.
Yeah, we've got long evenings
now. Yeah, we do. Yes,
we do. All right. Thanks, Jim, for that.