Gardening Ideas & Inspiration Archives

White Moon Gardens

Susan | Bring Your Wonder

“The moon was up, painting the world silver, making things look just a little more alive.”
― N.D. Wilson

White gardens, sometimes known as “moon gardens”, are gardens showcasing mostly white flowers, and plants with white variegated or silvery/gray foliage. Their monochromatic color scheme is serene, calming and refreshing in a way that the multi-hued blooms we’re accustomed to seeing can’t match.

White Gardens

Viewed by moonlight, white gardens can be downright magical, especially when you add plants with silvery gray foliage, and those made-for-nighttime plants that bloom and/or release their fragrance after the sun sets.

Night-blooming flowers

Datura
Nicotiana
Night Blooming Jasmine blooms are tiny, but at night their perfume can spread 20 feet!
Moonflower
Tuberose | photo Olaf Remeney
Brugmansia blooms for an entire week at the time of the full moon!
Gardenia blooms day & night, but its heady fragrance gets stronger after dark

Foliage for your white garden

Dusty Miller
Licorice Plant
Snow in Summer
Curry Plant
Sea Holly
ilvermound Artemesia
Silver Shimmers Lungwort
Lamb’s Ear

Planning your white moon garden

When planning a white garden, the most important thing to keep in mind is the same as for any garden: choose the right plant for the conditions. There are white-blooming flowers, and plants with white or silvery/gray foliage suited to all hardiness zones, soil types, water requirements, and light requirements from full shade to full sun. If your goal is a garden that glows in the moonlight, be sure to plant it where the moonbeams fall.

White gardens for small spaces

Short on space? Many of these plants will thrive in containers! Think of window boxes, and pots on a deck, patio or windowsill, outdoors or in.

thegardenbuzz.com

And don’t think a white/moon garden is an exotic undertaking. Many “common” flowers are white, or come in a white variety. Lily of the Valley, daisies, and snowdrop are common white flowers. Lilies, petunias, peonies, bleeding heart, impatiens, cosmos, cleome, roses, carnations, tulips, daffodils, hydrangeas, lilacs, even lavender all have white varieties as well. Look for them wherever you buy your seeds, bulbs, flowers, and plants, or order online (affiliate link; see full disclosure here).