A moon garden, also known as a twilight garden, evening garden, night garden, moonlight garden, or dream garden, is a type of

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

designed to be enjoyed at dusk and nighttime. Fragrant flowers, light-colored vegetation or blooms that are visible by

moonlight Moonlight consists of mostly sunlight (with little earthlight) reflected from the parts of the Moon's surface where the Sun's light strikes. History The ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras was aware that "''the sun provides the moon with its ...

, blossoms that open at night instead of day, and plants which attract night pollinators you can hear, are all elements of a moon garden. The different effects produced by moonlight compared to

sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...

in human color perception emphasize the colors of certain flowers more than others, bringing out different tones which are not available during daytime or with artificial lights. Night-blooming plants are typically moth, bat or wind pollinated. Planning an evening garden can perform double-duty as a setting for evening entertaining such as barbecues and parties. In India, the Mehtab Bagh, meaning 'moonlight garden', was built around 1530 by Emperor Babur and later became part of the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

complex. It featured night-blooming plants, white plastered walkways, an octagonal reflecting pool, and a pavilion.

Design elements

White reflects better than darker colors, therefore choosing plants with white blooms work well for a moon garden. Paler blues and purples may also show in the gloom. Silvery foliage, such as those you would find in Mediterranean or arid climates, reflects in low light levels. A moon garden is not just about sight, but about all the senses. Strong scents, the feeling of a breeze, or sound of movement will enhance the experience of a garden during the evening or night. Nighttime pollinators, such as moths and bats, are attracted to blooms open at night, strong scents and reflectiveness, and may be visible or audible in the garden. The moon garden's attraction to moths is said to be the night version of a butterfly garden. Water elements might include a small trickling fountain to create soft sounds or reflect light with movement. A moon-gazing pond or birdbath of still water can reflect the Moon—the nighttime equivalent of a

reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water with a reflective surface, undisturbed by fountain jets. Design Reflecting pools are o ...

. Low levels of

landscape lighting Landscape lighting or garden lighting refers to the use of outdoor lighting, illumination of private gardens and public landscapes; for the enhancement and purposes of safety, nighttime aesthetics, accessibility, security, recreation and sports, ...

can be appropriate, such as fairy lights for mood lighting, or solar LED lights to illuminate walkways. Electric lighting can create special effects using techniques such as uplighting and silhouetting. Striking features in daylight might disappear at night; they can be lit for nighttime focal points, or a new focal point can be chosen and illuminated.

Fireflies The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

are attracted to darker gardens.

Plants suited for moon gardens

Brugmansia suaveolens-yercaud-salem-India

Certain flowers and plants with specific colors and nocturnal habits are suited to moon gardens. Among these, lilies, angel's trumpet, sweet rocket, moonflower, four o'clock flower, bearded iris, night gladiolus, evening primrose,

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

snowdrop ''Galanthus'' (from Ancient Greek , (, "milk") + (, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family (biology), family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leav ...

foxglove ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in sha ...

, Japanese dogwood, garden phlox, lamb's ear, silvermound, peonies, and common lilac are all commonly cultivated plants in moon gardens. White flowers are especially suited to moon gardens, but green, pink, and other pale colors are also common. Silver, white, or variegated leaves will work as well.

Night bloomers

Some of the night-blooming plants have names indicating this behavior, such as four o'clocks, evening primrose, night phlox, and moonflower. Other night-blooming flowers include foamflower,

tuberose ''Agave amica'', formerly ''Polianthes tuberosa'', the tuberose, is a perennial plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, extracts of which are used as a Note (perfumery), note in perfumery. Now widely grown as an ornamental plant, ...

, night-blooming cereus, night-blooming lotus, night gladiolus, Nottingham catchfly, and chocolate daisy. The citron daylily, unlike most day lilies, opens in midafternoon and stays open through the night. File:White Mirabilis flower.jpg, Four o'clocks File:Oenothera biennis FWS-00.jpg, Evening primrose File:Ipomoea alba270483816.jpg, Moonflower File:Night Blooming Cereus Blossom.JPG, Night-blooming cereus File:2 Nymphaea Tropical Night-Blooming Water Lily, Waterlily, Tiger Lotus (Nymphaea lotus).jpg, Night-blooming lotus

Night scents

While daytime pollinators use vision to locate their sources of nectar, night pollinators such as moths and bats have poor vision and operate in low light levels. Therefore they are attracted to strongly scented blossoms. In response to changing light levels, plants such as Night-scented stock ('' Matthiola longipetala'') pump cells to open blooms as night falls, and close up again when daylight returns. Gardenias (''

Gardenia jasminoides ''Gardenia jasminoides'', commonly known as gardenia and cape jasmine, is an evergreen flowering plant in the coffee family Rubiaceae. It is native to the subtropical and northern tropical parts of the Far East. Wild plants range from 30 centime ...

'') put out stronger scents at night, and night-blooming jessamine ('' Cestrum nocturnum'') has such a strong scent it is recommended to plant it a bit away from the house.

Silver foliage

Silver-leafed plants are good reflectors and contrast for low light levels, such as silver ragwort ('' Senecio cineraria''), Texas sage (''

Leucophyllum frutescens ''Leucophyllum frutescens'' is an evergreen shrub in the Scrophularia, figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, native to the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the official "State Native Shrub of Texas", and to the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Ta ...

''), and several plants in the '' Artemisia'' family. File:Dusty miller -- Jacobaea maritima 'Silverdust'.jpg, '' Jacobaea maritima'' 'Silverdust' File:Ornamental Texas sage in bloom.jpg, Texas sage File:Artemisia absinthium 01.JPG, ''

Artemisia absinthium ''Artemisia absinthium'', otherwise known as common wormwood, is a species of '' Artemisia'' native to North Africa and temperate regions of Eurasia, and widely naturalized in Canada and the northern United States. It is grown as an ornamental ...

'' File:Starr 031001-2122 Artemisia mauiensis.jpg, ''Artemisia mauiensis'' File:0 Stachys byzantina - Yvoire (2).JPG, Lamb's ear

Notable gardens

Gardens open to the public which have moon gardens, and notable gardens originally designed and constructed with a moon garden, include: * Mehtab Bagh in India * Sonnenberg Gardens in New York * Four Arts Botanical Gardens in Florida * Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Florida * Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens in Texas * The Gardens on Spring Creek in Colorado * San Francisco Botanical Garden in California

Other uses of the term

Sometimes a garden is named a 'moon garden' because it features a significant structural element such as a moon gate, moon window, or moon bridge, however the purpose there is different than a garden designed for nighttime experience. Moon gates and moon windows are constructed to frame a view, have a cultural or spiritual meaning, or may symbolically represent the Moon. Moon bridges are usually ornamental and placed so their half-circular shape reflects into still water making a full circle which symbolizes the Moon. ' Planting by the signs' is often called 'moon gardening' because scheduling planting, cultivating, and harvesting of crops is based on moon phases.