Plants, Flowers to Enjoy by Moonlight
2023-02-28
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1Gardeners in the Northern Hemisphere are starting to plan their summer gardens.
2Most are thinking about how their plants and flowers will look in the bright sunshine in the coming summer.
3But when the summer sun goes down in the evening, and you are sitting outside at home, you may not be able to see many flowers in the yard without artificial lighting.
4With some planning, you can plant a "moon garden."
5That is one you can enjoy by the light of the moon.
6Jessica Damiano writes about gardening for The Associated Press.
7She says plants with silver or multi-colored leaves, white or light-colored flowers, or flowers that open only at night are good choices for a moon garden.
8Another way to enjoy plants in the evening is to choose ones with a pleasing smell.
9Plant them along a walkway or near a seating area outdoors, where you can enjoy them up close, or within view of a window.
10For a moon garden, Damiano suggests planting these kinds of light-colored, moon-reflecting blooms: the moonflower (of course!), as well as Shasta daisy, four o'clock, sweet alyssum, yarrow, snow-in-summer, evening primrose, petunias, New Guinea impatiens and geranium.
11Insects that visit flowers at night to collect pollen, such as the sphinx moth, love them, too.
12You can begin the garden early with early bloomers, like lily of the valley, daffodil and azalea.
13Make the season last longer into the autumn with late bloomers like chrysanthemum and autumn clematis.
14Plants with unusual or multi-colored leaves include spotted dead nettle, Japanese painted fern, Jack Frost Siberian bugloss, hostas, silver lamb's ears, dusty miller, Russian sage, silver mound wormwood and some euonymus varieties.
15All of these plants can be seen after sundown and especially seem to shine under a full moon.
16If you want good smells to fill your yard in the evening, plant mock orange gardenia, lilac, summersweet, and jasmine.
17In very warm places, try planting ylang-ylang and frangipani to fill your evenings with pleasure.
18Remember that like a painting, a garden needs something behind the attention-getting objects in front.
19Include a backdrop of woody plants like the sweet-smelling Korean spice viburnum, or white-blooming hydrangeas.
20Trees like paper birch white or silver poplar, acacia and eucalyptus light up the night.
21Find out about those that work best in your climate by talking with other gardeners or a local expert.
22For the best visual effect, plant in groups of three, five or seven, of the same kind of plant.
23That is a good gardening method in general because it avoids creating a disorganized mixture of plants and flowers.
24But it is more important in a moon garden. You do not want your single plants to get lost in the dark.
25There is one more thing to increase how much you can see your moon garden -- add some small lights that face the plants.
26Their light will increase the appeal of your moon garden.
27Think about using other light-colored design elements, as well, such as fencing, plant supports, stones, water features and glass balls.
28I'm Jill Robbins.
1Gardeners in the Northern Hemisphere are starting to plan their summer gardens. Most are thinking about how their plants and flowers will look in the bright sunshine in the coming summer. 2But when the summer sun goes down in the evening, and you are sitting outside at home, you may not be able to see many flowers in the yard without artificial lighting. 3With some planning, you can plant a "moon garden." That is one you can enjoy by the light of the moon. 4Leaves and flowers both show well in moonlight 5Jessica Damiano writes about gardening for The Associated Press. She says plants with silver or multi-colored leaves, white or light-colored flowers, or flowers that open only at night are good choices for a moon garden. Another way to enjoy plants in the evening is to choose ones with a pleasing smell. Plant them along a walkway or near a seating area outdoors, where you can enjoy them up close, or within view of a window. 6For a moon garden, Damiano suggests planting these kinds of light-colored, moon-reflecting blooms: the moonflower (of course!), as well as Shasta daisy, four o'clock, sweet alyssum, yarrow, snow-in-summer, evening primrose, petunias, New Guinea impatiens and geranium. 7Insects that visit flowers at night to collect pollen, such as the sphinx moth, love them, too. 8Make it last longer 9You can begin the garden early with early bloomers, like lily of the valley, daffodil and azalea. Make the season last longer into the autumn with late bloomers like chrysanthemum and autumn clematis. 10Plants with unusual or multi-colored leaves include spotted dead nettle, Japanese painted fern, Jack Frost Siberian bugloss, hostas, silver lamb's ears, dusty miller, Russian sage, silver mound wormwood and some euonymus varieties. 11All of these plants can be seen after sundown and especially seem to shine under a full moon. 12Good smells make a pleasant garden 13If you want good smells to fill your yard in the evening, plant mock orange gardenia, lilac, summersweet, and jasmine. In very warm places, try planting ylang-ylang and frangipani to fill your evenings with pleasure. 14Remember that like a painting, a garden needs something behind the attention-getting objects in front. Include a backdrop of woody plants like the sweet-smelling Korean spice viburnum, or white-blooming hydrangeas. 15Trees like paper birch white or silver poplar, acacia and eucalyptus light up the night. Find out about those that work best in your climate by talking with other gardeners or a local expert. 16Group your plants together 17For the best visual effect, plant in groups of three, five or seven, of the same kind of plant. That is a good gardening method in general because it avoids creating a disorganized mixture of plants and flowers. But it is more important in a moon garden. You do not want your single plants to get lost in the dark. 18There is one more thing to increase how much you can see your moon garden -- add some small lights that face the plants. Their light will increase the appeal of your moon garden. Think about using other light-colored design elements, as well, such as fencing, plant supports, stones, water features and glass balls. 19I'm Jill Robbins. 20Jessica Damiano wrote this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. 21_____________________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23gardener - n. a person who works with plants as a hobby or for payment at a home 24reflect - v. (trans.) to bend or throw back (light, heat, or sound) 25bloom - n. the flower on a plant or v. to produce a flower 26pollen - n. a fine powder produced by flowers 27multi- - prefix used to form adjectives indicating that something consists of many things of a particular kind 28backdrop - n. the background to any scene or situation 29visual - adj. of, relating to, done by, or used in seeing 30______________________________________________________________________ 31What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 32Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them.