When you think of your garden, you probably think of flowers that bloom in full sun. Flowers that bloom tend to wane by late afternoon and close up for the night, but there are some night bloomers that are beautiful flowers, too. Some even have the strong scent of a really fragrant flower you may be looking for in a houseplant. Tuberoses, chocolate daisies, gardenias, and more fragrant varieties are easily available in North America if you're more interested in the smell than flowers that only bloom at night. Still, night scented orchids, night blooming water lilies, night-blooming cereus, and 'queen of the night' sound like romantic ways to decorate your garden. Let's check out a few of these night blooming varieties of ground cover.
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1. Evening Primrose
Evening primroses, or Oenothera biennis, are biennial plants that tend to bloom from from late spring to late summer. The yellow flowers will often stay open until midday the next day.
2. Moonflower
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The Ipomoea alba are pink or white flowers and are a perennial if you're trying to plan out both annuals and perennials for your moon garden.
3. Datura
These are also sometimes called devil's trumpets. They can be pink, purple, yellow, or white. Be very careful if you decide to plant these, because they are very poisonous.
4. Brugmansia
These are also known as Angel's trumpets, and are related to the Datura. They come in lots of different colors and have a unique way of hanging towards the ground. They also have a sweet fragrance.
5. Night Phlox
These are night-blooming flowers that butterflies, bees, and birds quite like.
6. Night Gladiolus
Gladiolus tristis can grow several feet high and like full sun and well-drained soil, so that's something to keep in mind depending on where you're trying to grow flowers that bloom at night.
7. Casablanca Lily
Also known as the Lilium Casa Blanca, they have large flowers that are sadly very toxic to cats and dogs, as all lilies are.
8. Four O'Clock Flower
The Mirabilis jalapa are also called the marvel of Peru or four o'clock flowers. They often open at dusk and like sun or partial shade.
9. Nicotiana
I didn't know flowering tobacco could be so pretty until I started growing some in my own garden. They flower from summer to fall and can be lime green, maroon red, white, yellow, pink, and crimson, according to Wikipedia. Hummingbirds love them, as do night pollinators!
10. Night Blooming Jasmine
These are also called Cestrum nocturnum, lady of the night, night-scented jessamine, night-scented Cestrum, and poisonberry. They were naturalized in South Asia, but now grow in places like Australia and the southernmost United States. They have a strong, memorable fragrance you won't soon forget.