Gemini: Great! Thanks a million. Please check my trade list and let me know what I can send in return. This fall I hope to have lots more to add to the list!
Angie
Does anyone have a moon garden?
I just looked again and the message sbaove and want to make sure I'm not confusing people. There are two kinds of white "nikkies" mentioned. Nicotiana alata, of which I will attach an image from my garden, here.
And nicotiana sylvestris. Both are old fashioned and scented, but sylvestris looks like this.
http://www.kolumbus.fi/timo.peuraniemi/timo.peuraniemi/koulupuutarha2003/narsissitupakat.jpg
It's a much bigger plant.
I think I may have given the impression that they were one and the same.
Donna
There's also N.mutabilis. I've never grown it, but would like to try them, just lovely!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/178842/
There are lots of species and varieties, didn't realize how many till I just browsed PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/search.php?q=Nicotiana&Search=Search+PlantFiles&offset=0
This is great! I'm getting ready to go to work...and reading up as I trot back and forth....lol
So.......if you experienced people were to pick the MOST fragrant Nicotiana...which might that be?
I've wanted to grow mutabilis too. A few years ago I grew apple blossum. Gorgeous, but it's a hybrid, so the seedlings don't come true.
And lime green is fabulous! One of those funny colors that goes with lots of plants. Select Seeds gets me into trouble. They sell about nine kinds, and some of them are very unusual.
Donna
Nicotiana alata has made people walking past my house stop, gasp, and ask what the fabulous scent is. Some of them seem quite blown away, The woman who lives next door asked whether I was going to grow it every year, because her husband walks past my house on his evening stroll and loves the scent. She wanted to make sure he got to enjoy it every night.
Donna
Great thread! I've just read through quickly so far, but I noticed a lot of white blooming plants suggested..
What about plants with silvery or white-variegated foliage? Even when not in bloom, they'll reflect the light. Japanese Painted Fern for shady spots, rose campion for sunnier areas (I've got one in my garden whose palest pink blooms look white from even a few feet away)...
Any other silvery plants to suggest?
A lot of the artemisia have silver folage like ''silver mound'' ''Powis castle'' '' silver brocade'' and on and on...
I love the softness of a mound of artemesia... Lady's mantle seems to catch the light in a special way, too, although I haven't really ever paid attention to it anywhere at night.
I received some seed for the lime green Nicotainia Affinis, which I think is the same as Alata, but in the lime green. I think I read somewhere though that the lime green is not as fragrant. I might have to look for some seeds of the regular Alata.
Donna yours looks pretty compact, I can't remember how big the lime green is supposed to get.
Hi Lissa,
According to Select Seeds, 3 feet tall. I think mine have been closer to 2 feet. And, yes, I think the scent is weaker. But what a pretty plant!
http://www.selectseeds.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/04118.3.45032869986715525239
Critterologist (what a great handle!), I have several Japanese Painted Ferns. They look so delicate, but they are tough! I'm not sure I ever noticed reflected light, but they are so gorgeous, who cares? Ladies Mantle is one of my favorite plants. It blooms early in the season for us here, and looks good most of the season. The color of the foliage is about the same color as line green nikkis.
Does anyone here know whether Phlox David persists? I've been looking at it for a couple of years.
And speaking of white plants, especially for fall bloom, I love anemone x hybrida Honorine Jobert. I had it installed when we moved here ten years ago. Early in the yard, it forms groundcover like shiny maple shaped leaves, and then it starts blooming in September and well into October. I read that the hybrids last where some of the others done. My four plants have morphed into perhaps ten, because I loved them so much I let them spread. Every year now I tear out a bit to keep them under control, but they're great!
Donna
They do a great job of brightening up that hedge!
I don't think 'David' phlox is one of those "short lived" perennials, so hopefully yours will come back for many years.
Donna I think your type of nicotiana is what I need to look for. That is really pretty...tho Neal's big one would be great too!
Anyone see hummer's at them?
Great to know about David Phlox. I think I'll try it.
During the summer we have regular hummers. There were three last year that came daily for weeks. They seem to really go for our verbenas, and seem drawn to the mahogany whirlybird nasturtiums and red berries of the crabapples. The verbenas they loved, as did the butterflies, were Homestead Purple, Appleblossum, Canadensis and Sissinghurst, which were in that ultraviolet pink/purple spectrum AND had nectar. I think they would have been more enthused about the nikkis if they were open, but on a sunny day, they are not.
A terrific inexpensive source for nikkis with very low shipping is The Fragrant Path. I think itt's where mine originated.
Click on fragrant annuals to the left, and enjoy!
http://www.fragrantpathseeds.com/
Donna
Donna
Donna,
Did you notice when you placed the link for Select Seeds that they have a moon garden listing? There's one for plants and seeds.
http://www.selectseeds.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/04118.7.965722193515525239
Thank you so much for showing your pictures. They look great, and I'm looking forward to adding some more flowers to the garden.
Pennefeather,
You're quite right! I forgot. I've gotten many of my seeds from them over the years. They have wonderful ideas.
I've learned so much from other people, and I'm really happy to give back. Please do post when you add flowers. I love to see what others are doing.
Donna
I thought of another plant to add to the list - Cleome 'White Queen'. It is an annual but should self seed to keep it going. I just started seeds indoors yesterday, so hopefully I'll have this one for the summer. Critter mentioned japanese painted ferns. I have the variety 'Ghost' - all silvery and shimmery, and it absolutely glows in the moonlight...Terri
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/64825/
Aspenthomas,
Would you please share how you start cleome? I tried to germinate it year after year with zero success despite getting seed from great companies. Then I tried broadcasting a couple of hundred seeds. Then I gave in and bought seedlings for a couple of years and put them in pots on my deck. Suddenly last year - boom!- they showed up in my yard. Is there a trick?
Oh, and another, that blooms in April - Arabis caucausica.
Donna
Oh no! I am a newbie at seed starting - this is my first year for attempting anything! I sowed the seeds yesterday in two of those Park's biodomes with the soil plugs, stuck heat mats under them, and put them on my growlight shelves. I'll let you know how it goes - maybe I won't have cleome this summer after all unless I buy plants from the nursery :-) Terri
Terri, did you sow all your Cleome seeds? If you still have some, perhaps try direct sowing a few. I find them easy to grow that way too. You could also try wintersowing a few- they're an excellent annual for wintersowing.
Hello everyone
I haven't read through this entire thread so forgive if it has been said already, I just wanted to tell you that there is a Gardening by the Moon forum here on DG. You may want to check it out for ideas.
We have lots of snow here today - I took some photos to make Christmas cards for next year. I was just thinking this morning how pretty it will look at night if we get rid of the cloud cover and a bit of the moon and stars come out. Then I saw Penne's thread and popped in.
Yes, I did all of them. I'll look at the germination time again when I get home, and if I don't get any to sprout during the projected time, I'll order a few more seed packets for direct sowing outside and try that way too. I'd really like to have them out in the garden this summer - I think their color, height, and flower shape will look great in the moonlight... Terri
Missingrosie, I had no idea that there was a gardening by moon forum! There is just so many things going on that it is hard to keep track of what is available.
AspenThomas, I started some cleome this past Friday. I'll let you guys know if I have any success. My cleome is purple - they didn't have white when I bought them, and I didn't think of cleome for a moon garden.
I am going to investiage the ghost ferns. I think some silvery or white leaves would be great.
The Gardening by the Moon forum has to do with gardening, or garden planning, by phases of the moon, not having a garden you can see by moonlight. I think the posters here are looking for plants that are visible in darkness, and the Gardening by the Moon forum does not address that.
Donna.
LOL... I do a lot of gardening by the moon, if that can be taken to mean gardening by moonlight! On days when it's too hot or too bright for me outside, I've been known to strap on a little headlamp and head out after sunset to weed, dig, even to harvest!
THAT must be an interesting sight! To be honest, when there are late spring freezes, and I realize after dark that my lilies will be zapped if I don't cover them, I have been known to take a flashlight so I can see what I'm doing when I put pots on top of the exposed lilies. I bet the neighbors think I'm nuts!
Donna
I have an area that has a white oleander and white allysum growing. But the thought of more white plantings around the hottub is delightful! I love to go to White Sands on full moon nights when the rangers let us stay longer, kind of similar feel I would think. Great thread, maybe now I will plant some moon flower by my white oleander.
I'm a sucker for adding gardening books to my library on any topic that catches my interest, though now that I've found DG I get as many (or more) ideas and info from the on-line forums and articles as I do from books! I have a book on moon gardens that I pulled out and started re-reading last night. I always find pretty good deals at amazon on used books in "like new" condition. If anyone is a sucker for gardening books like I am, check out 'The Moonlit Garden' by Scott Ogden:
http://www.amazon.com/Moonlit-Garden-Scott-Ogden/dp/0878338934/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236082566&sr=8-1
I think the used books start at $6.00. While I was looking this up, I saw another one that I'll probably order:
Planning and Planting a Moon Garden:
http://www.amazon.com/Planning-Planting-Garden-Country-Bulletin/dp/158017339X/ref=pd_sim_b_1
Terri
I have been getting books at BetterWorld.com Their used books start at $ 3.48 with no shipping. Do not know how they do it, also the profits go to World literacy.
9 deg this morning so no gardening here, but I am scouting out a place for a moon garden . We have no deck but I am thinking near the hammock.
Hi All!
I just nabbed that book off of my used book site for $3.99...with shipping it was just under $7.00. Thanks for the TIP on Betterworld.com!!!
I have several friends who have hot tubs on their nice secluded decks. I bet we can all benefit from that book! Thanks again for the tip!
My 2nd sowing of Nicotiana sylvestris has yielded seedlings! The seed is still viable after all, so any of you who want some dmail me.
Neal
Donna and AspenThomas,
Just wanted you to know that the cleome (Violet Queen) that I sowed on Friday is already coming up!. I don't think that I covered the seed; I just pressed it into the soil, and started it on my heat mat. This picture is from Dianes Seed.
I wish that they had the white in stock when I bought this. I just ordered some from Thompson and Morgan, along with white four o'clock seeds..
Thank you Pen. I just got my hands on a heat mat, and I'll give it a try.
Donna
Here is page one of an article clipping I saved on a moon garden
page two
And another great photo. Unfortunately it originally was printed as a centerfold of two pages in Country Living, but I didn't save that one for some odd reason.
But, fortunately, Select Seeds reprinted it with permission in their seed catalog that year...
Here is the small photo...hope it is somewhat viewable, and the article:
Enchanted evenings: design a garden with plants that glow come nightfall.
Publication: Country Living Gardener
Publication Date: 01-AUG-03
Email this article | Print this article
COPYRIGHT 2003 © Hearst Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
It's a great irony that so many gardens are filled with plants that look their best during daylight hours-when their owners are away at work," says Marilyn Barlow, garden historian and nurserywoman in Union, Conn. (Zone 5). With a little planning you can create a display that waits for you to come home before putting on a show, she believes. Annuals and perennials with white blooms (White Sonata cosmos and Hakone White double balloon flowers for instance) positively enchant when the light starts to dim, as do those with silver foliage (dusty miller, lamb's ears and Plectranthus argentatus are just three) Some flowers-moonflowers and four-o'clocks among them-don't even open until late afternoon, owning to the phenomenon known as photoperiodism. Still others, such as jasmine tobacco (Nicotiana alata Grandiflora) and night-scented stock (Mattiola longipetala, formerly M. bicornis), release their perfume after dark when night pollinators are on the move.
The Victorians knew all about twilight gardens." Marilyn notes. "They called them moon gardens and considered them highly romantic." Marilyn's own moon garden features such favorites as white Petunia axillaris 'Rainmaster', Victorian white jasmine nightshade (Solanum jasminoides 'Alba'), white verbena, and old-fashioned woodland tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris). All the plants were raised in the greenhouses of Marilyn's mail-order nursery, Select Seeds-Antique Flowers. "You don't have to turn over your entire garden to night-blooming plants," she notes. "A small area is sufficient to achieve the desired effect." At the heart of Marilyn's 50-square-foot moon garden stands a rusitc gazebo fashioned from cedar, mountain laurel, and pine by Marilyn's husband, Peter. Verdant moonflowers drape the charming retreat making it irresistible for quiet talks and romantic suppers Other structures, including an antique storage shed and picket fence, offer vertical support for sweet-potato vines old fashioned petunias trailin g (P. integrifolia), and a white form of black-eyed Susan vine (Tbunbergia alata 'Susie').
RELATED ARTICLE: twilight temptations
Moonflower (Ipomoea alba): Just when morning glories close up for the night, pure white moonflowers get ready to open, releasing their lovely fragrance. Like morning glories, they prefer soil that isn't too rich. Grown as an annual, vines reach an average of 10 to 15 feet.
Night-scented stock (Matthiola longipetala, formerly M. bicornis): Foot-tall plants with jasmine-scented, four-petaled lavender and white blooms turn on the charm at dusk. Sow these half-hardy annuals directly in the ground.
Four o'clock (Mirabilis jalapa 'Alba'): This Peruvian native has flourished in evening gardens ever since its introduction to Europe in the 16th century. Clusters of trumpet-shaped blooms on two-foot stems open in late afternoon, emitting a light citrus scent. North of Zone 8, grow these tender perennials as annuals.
Jasmine tobacco (Nicotiana alata 'Grandiflora'): Star-shaped white flowers on four-foot stems open in the early evening. North of Zone 8, grow this self-sowing perennial as an annual. Also worth considering is annual woodland tobacco (N. sylvestris), with nodding, tubular flowers clustered atop five-foot plants.
I remember that article and loved that one ^_^
We have a small moon garden. It has some fun garden art in it with metal moon designs, with a bird house atop a 4x4 post that is surrounded with chicken wire for climbing moonflower vine (Ipomoea alba). We also have a moon ceramic incense holder for lemon verbena etc. incense that helps keep mosquitoes away in the summer.
The plants we have include pom pom viburnum (Eastern snowball), day lily 'ice carnival', 'Imperial Lemon' daylily, late blooming white hostas (forget the name), white buddleia, sweet autumn clematis, Climbing hydrangea (Anomala petiolaris), Plume Poppy (macleaya microcarpa) and usually white scaevola in a hanging basket.
All our nicotiana sylvestris is located around on the other side of our house, but the moon garden would have been a nice spot. Like in the above article, it is often marketed as a nice choice for a "moon garden."
Have fun designing your moon garden!
There are too many beautiful flowers that I want to plant in my moon garden that need full sun. I was looking around today, and trying to figure out which tree limbs I am going to get rid off to increase my sun. I have an older dogwood, one of three in the area that are lackluster performers - I think that they are just old. Many of the branches haven't bloomed in the three years that we have had this house. This spring, they are saying sayonara!
I'm pretty sure that I will be able to bump this up from partly sunny to mostly sunny. Then I can add some zinnias, marigolds, and osteospermum.