Night Flowering Landscapes and Moon Gardens
Why Some Plants Bloom or Blossom in the Dark
May 5, 2009
Many who work all day want to come home to a fragrant flowering garden in the night. Developing a moon garden is a solution for them. But they need to be prepared to share this garden.
Night Flowers Serve a Purpose Beyond Simple Beauty
Bright flowers usually blossom in daylight attracting insects to pollinate them or attracting other creatures to eat from them. Red or orange flowers attract the hummingbird, while blues and purples attract the bee. Beautiful butterflies seek colors to camouflage themselves while they work.
Plants respond to the environment. Plant hormones affected by light and moisture patterns influence cell activities. Ambient light and temperature affect liquid within the plants’ cells. This in turn affects plant turgor and the cell chemicals that regulate the opening and closing of blossoms.
Night flowers are typically white or pale yellow. Night flowers serve the same purpose for nocturnal wildlife. Interestingly, the heady scent of night flowers, for example the perfume of the night blooming Jasmine, plays a role. The scent is necessary to direct the vision poor night creatures, such as bats, to its location.
Evening Primrose and Fragrance
This flower opens briefly in the night. Many of these night bloomers have sturdy flowers or strong stems to hold the poor sighted bat who drinks from the plant and aids in pollination.
Evening Primrose is one of 125 species of the plant genus, Oenothera. It has developed a unique inner configuration holding its pollen together by viscin threads making it accessible to a uniquely developed bee able to gather its pollen. Since the flower blooms at night, it attracts this unusual night bee. The vespertine bee is a night worker.
A Moon Garden Can Be a Moth Garden
Fragrant night flowers attract moths that flitter delicately around the light colored bloom. The moth flowers are usually white but can be pale yellow. The brightness shines against the dark night background assuming for the moth, an almost light status at night. Moths flock to a bright lamp at night in a similar manner only to die from the heat of the bulb. Jimson weed and honeysuckle are sometimes called moth flowers. The yucca plant with a tall accessible stem emits a scent at night to attract moths to pollinate and feed.
Cereus, a fascinating night bloomer
Moths and bats don’t need to compete for the flower since each has different requirements. The moth can utilize a delicate plant while the bat needs a sturdier one with a resting place. The long nosed bat will dive deep into this cactus-like bloom to find its nectar. All 450 species bloom at night. Wonderful white flowers appear magically after dark only to wither by daylight. The desert plant blossoms for one night only. It is considered a tropical flower and can live in the shade of desert shrubs. American Indians have used its turnip type root for food.
Night Blooming Aroids
Some members of the philodendron family emit a heat in the night. This nocturnal warmth lures the beetle down the spike. The warmth appeals to beetles allowing them to stay comfortable long enough to eat, pollinate, and even mate within the stalk.
The gentle rustling sounds and pervasive perfumes of the moon garden are a sign that not all sleep through the night.
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