FLOWERS THAT BLOOM IN THE NIGHT

Some flowers prefer to grow by the light of the moon. It sounds as if I am going to break into song but there are those flowers that look their best after the sun has gone down. Many of these nocturnal bloomers are tropical plants best suited to warm climates. You can choose to select hardy perennials or just grow the tropical specimens as summer annuals and then bring them indoors for the winter.

There are several which I particularly find attractive for your nocturnal garden. Moonflower or moonvine,evening primrose or the night-blooming cereus to name a few. The thing you need to know about the night blooming cereus is the actual flower is found in southern Arizona east to western Texas and south to northern Mexico. These are desert plants and are found at 3000 to 5000 elevation. Just for one night in June or July they open to a wide 4 inch petal and are approximately eight inches long. You have to be there or you will miss the whole thing.

An easier approach to take is purchase an Epiphyllum Oxypetallum which is not a cereus but is commonly referred to as a night blooming cereus. It is epiphytic which by definition means no dirt while the true desert cereus grows out of the ground. This flower will provide you with nights of blooming flowers. It will bloom for you in waves with sometimes as many as fifteen flowers at once. These blooms are close to dinner plate size and you and your friends can sit around drinking wine and watch these flowers come to life. You can find them on the Internet by typing in the above name.

Moonflower or moonvine is another good opportunity for both you and your neighbors to enjoy. It is a relative of the morning glory and can grow to be ten feet tall wrapping around a trellis. The flowers are purist of white and opening at twilight giving off a clover like perfume. The seed has a very hard coat and slow to germinate. I would advise soaking it in warm water overnight and nicking it with a knife before planting. It should be planted in well drained soil and a sunny location.

Evening primrose is another favorite of mine. The plants themselves often grow to be four or five feet tall. The flower spikes are approximately two-two one-half inches in diameter and are bright yellow with four petals. The flowers open in the evening and are closed during the day. This flower is very strongly scented with a perfume like aroma. This attracts pollinating moths to the plants. The evening primrose has a long history of medicinal uses and is edible. It comes with a lot of claims too lengthy to go into here. Research and find out what it maybe able to do for you.

Those are just some of the flowers that bloom in the night there are many others that can be researched and at least grown as an annual in your garden. Perhaps I will do a longer article on these interesting night bloomers in the future. You can read more about flowers at http://www.gardenersgardening.com