With the setting of the sun, the nocturnal garden awakens and the
night shift begins.

Many plants bloom exclusively at night. Many more wait until evening
to release their heady scent. White flowers and plants with variegated
foliage glow softly as they reflect the moonlight. To those who work
all day, the garden can be a peaceful refuge in the evening.

But for a few of our flying friends, the work goes on. The bright
blooms of some plants and heavenly scent of some flowers attract
nectar-feeding moths and bats. These pollinators work only after dark.
Other bats are drawn to the night-blooming garden to prey on insects.
They each can consume 600 mosquitoes per hour.

Night-flowering Plants

Evening Primroses: (Oenothera ) are perennials with sweetly scented
blossoms of soft white, pink and bright yellow that open each evening.

Moonflower: (Ipomoea alba ) is a night-blooming relative of the
morning glory that perfumes the garden with five- to six-inch white
flowers.

Angel's Trumpet: (Datura innoxia ) produces fragrant, six-inch white
flowers that appear from midsummer until frost on this viney annual.
Note that this plant is poisonous and should be kept away from
children.

Night Phlox: (Phlox 'Midnight Candy' ) at dusk, flowers open to
release a honey/almond/vanilla fragrance.

Evening Stock: (Matthiola incana ) has small pink or purplish flowers
that are not showy, but emit an intoxicating fragrance at night.

Four O'Clock: (Mirabilis jalapa ) is a sweetly fragrant annual with
colorful trumpet-shaped flowers that open in late afternoon and
release a jasmine-like perfume.

Nottingham Catchfly: (Silene nutans ) offers a scent reminiscent of
hyacinths. The flowers open on three successive nights before fading.



From The Night Shift
By Judy Sedbrook, Master Gardener, Colorado State University
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/COLUMNGW/gr020422.html

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