Planting a moon garden has nothing to do with interstellar travel.
Instead, it’s all about growing plants and flowers here in Maine that either bloom or glow by the light of our planet’s only natural satellite.
And there’s nothing mysterious about them, they just come down to plant selection.
Moon gardens are best enjoyed after dark and typically include white or silvery flowers with leaves that shimmer in the light of the moon. They also include flowers that give off pleasant fragrances on warm, summer nights.
Other than that, according to gardening experts, establishing and caring for a moon garden is no different or more difficult than a standard daytime garden.
“People think about moon gardens in two different ways,” Denise DeSpirito, gardens manager at Merryspring Nature Center in Camden, said. “There are ones that use flowers that bloom in the evenings, and there are ones that reflect the light of the moon.”
DeSpirito is a fan of combining the two, using annuals and perennials into a single display that is best viewed after dark.
“I really like to go for a diversity of plants that would reflect the play of moonlight or give off a nice night scent,” she said. “Selecting flowers that bloom at night helps the [nighttime] pollinators.”
Nocturnal pollinators in Maine include fireflies and certain species of moths.
Flowering plants with white blossoms that you can use in a Maine moon garden include lily of the valley, white tulips, white lilacs, white creeping phlox, moon flowers, white roses, white yarrow, hollyhocks, peonies and begonias.
Flowers that bloom at night include moonflowers, devil’s trumpet, angel’s trumpet, night phlox, night blooming jasmine, casablanca lily and tuberose.
Anything in the artemisa family — such as wormwood, silverwood or tarragon — has silvery leaves that glow in the moonlight.
“You want to do all the things you do when thinking about your daytime garden,” DeSpirito said. “Check if your plants like to be in sunny or shady areas, what kind of soil they like and how often they need to be watered.”
It’s also a good idea to make sure the spot you select for your moon garden actually gets moonbeams at night.
And moon gardens are not just for night time.
“So many of these plants are just great to have,” DeSpirito said. “Like angelia, which is a biannual with a roundish flower shape that looks like a moon or the sun.”
You can also plant a moon garden in the shape of a full or crescent moon and incorporate decorative stones. Planting some flowers in dark hanging pots will give the illusion the plants are floating in midair during the night.
“Pick some plants with interesting shaped leaves,” DeSpirito suggested. “They make great shadows in the moonlight.”
