Cultivating a night garden is a great way to get in touch with nature. Indeed, the perfume of these flowers is very pleasant and powerful.
If you plant these flowers near your house, you can open the windows and enjoy their aroma while you sleep. Many of these night flowering plants are white and look bright in the moonlight.
Contents
12 Night blooming flowers
1) Winged tobacco (Nicotiana alata)
This giant tobacco is more than 40 inches high and spreads over 27 inches. Its white and very fragrant flowers bloom late into the night, from June to October. If the winter is mild, this perennial plant, whose life span is not very long, reappears the following year.
2) White Ipomea
The white ipomea (or moon flower) really blooms at night. It releases a light lemon scent when it opens. During the day, its white flowers close again.
Some species of ipomea are climbing, normal, because it is a cousin of the volubilis (or belle-de-jour). They can reach 2.5 m long. The flowers, when open, can be up to 15 cm in diameter.
3) Night-blooming Jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum)
The galant de nuit, a shrub with a supple growth habit, is not very hardy (-3°) and must be wintered in a greenhouse or veranda. It grows very fast and can be cultivated as an annual. Its green-white flowers are simple, but on a hot night, their perfume, a mixture of linden and jasmine, can be perceived at more than 100 m.
4) Moon flower (Ipomea alba)
The moon flower is a beautiful climber with large pure white flowers measuring more than 10 cm in diameter. Their fragrance is exquisite. They open in the evening, between dog and wolf, in a few minutes or even seconds. Not very hardy (23° F), it is cultivated like an annual, because it grows fast.
5) Evening Primrose
This perennial spreads quickly and can cover a lot of space. The pale yellow flowers open at dusk and release a sweet aroma.
6) Lady of the night (Mirabilis jalapa)
The lady of the night is a plant with immaculate flowers, whose fragrance bewitches our summer evenings. Sown in spring, it measures almost 70 inches in height.
three months later. The flowers open in the evening and close in the morning. A real joy for insomniacs!
7) Night Phlox
These small pinkish flowers open at dusk and deliver a very pleasant vanilla honey scent.
8) Nocturnal water lily
The red or purple water lily is one of the most beautifully colored flowers in the world. The large reddish-pink flower is surrounded by large bronze leaves. It blooms in early summer and opens at dusk.
9) Leaning Silene (Silene nutans)
The leaning silene is a plant high of 60 cm, perennial, wild and rustic. Protected because in danger of extinction, it is cultivated by certain nurserymen. Its discrete white flowers, falling down and very scented, open in the evening, from May to July, and attract moths.
10) Abyssinian gladiola
This plant is not really nocturnal, it blooms in the evening and attracts moths. Its creamy yellow flowers smell really strong: it is a very spicy scent that brings something heady to any night garden.
11) Baobab (Adansonia digitata)
And just to dream, the baobab flower… From May to August, in Africa, you can see, at nightfall, the huge white flowers, up there, which open in 15 min. The metamorphosis is visible to the naked eye and you can even observe the bats that pollinate them!
12) Lily of Casablanca
Developed as an oriental lily hybrid, its large fragrant flower is remarkable. Its perfume is exceptional and it is moreover used by the great perfumers for its richness and its olfactive texture.
Which flower smells at night?
Night-blooming jasmine / Lady of the night / Queen of the night
Cestrum nocturnum is a non-climbing shrub. However, it develops long, flexible stems that can eventually be palisaded against a wall. It has opposite lanceolate evergreen leaves, which are fresh green.
The plant is very commonly cultivated for its exceptional perfume which gives all its power when the night falls. This intermediate perfume between the jasmine and the lime tree spreads up to 100 m of distance when it is hot.
Why do flowers bloom at night?
The main function of the flowers is to allow sexual reproduction. They contain both pollen (male sex cells) and ova (female sex cells).
Although some plants are “self-fertile” (their pollen can fertilize their own ovules), many plants need a pollinator to transfer their pollen to the ovules of another individual of the same species. Flowers attract their pollinators by their shape, color or smell.
In some plants, pollination is mainly dependent on nocturnal animals. It is therefore necessary for them to keep their flowers open at night. For example, the flowers of some wild pineapple species are pollinated by bats.
Pineapple pollen, on the other hand, is also the food of insects that are active during the day. Plants therefore protect themselves by closing their flowers during the day. Furthermore, it is important for plants to synchronize the production of attractive smells, secreted in the flowers, with the period of activity of their pollinators.
Summary
When you have plants that have bloomed under the energy of the full moon, you can harvest the flowers and dry them. You can then use them as talismans or around a candle to perfume the inside of the house.
You can also put them in a purifying bath or in a mixture of incense to stimulate intuition and wisdom.
