Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Glorious Moonflowers

Moonflowers

Moonflowers are one of my favorites for the "Haunted Garden".

Blooming during the night, its large white blooms seem to illuminate the garden... beckoning you to come closer. They are splendid for enjoying evening relaxation. Planted near a deck or porch, its heavenly fragrance
permeates the air, adding to its appealing beauty. Relatively easy to grow depending on location. I plant mine in the ground growing on a trellis,
below the deck we have that is about 10 feet off the ground and in pots.
To get them started on the deck I attach strings to the railing to the ground below and they begin their climb to the top. They grow about 15' feet. For the best effect plant multiple seeds about 2" apart in a row in the location you want them to grow. By October ours are usually wrapped around the railing and we add orange lights right before they begin traveling across the railing for a splendid display by Halloween!

We begin by soaking our seeds over night in a damp paper towel to help with the germination. The seeds are best planted in warm soil so depending on where you live they are ready to plant from April to May. I've already started mine as we live in Zone 9 in the Ozarks so spring has arrived. If we have another frost I will keep them covered to protect the new seedlings. We accent our Moonflowers with orange Marigolds and Impatients.

6 comments:

  1. I did a post on these magical moon flowers last year. We planted ours and they were prolific growers, attracting the most bizarre moths. And their scent is just lovely. The frost got ours in the winter. But the vine gave us literally hundreds of seeds. We feel like we should be packaging them up and selling them. Totally agree that they are the perfect addition to the 'Haunted Garden'! :o)

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  2. Beautiful! I'll have to get a picture some time of my night-blooming cereus cactus. It's soooo beautiful and the fruit it leaves behind makes the birds go nuts.

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  3. ~they are gorgeous...we just planted more moonflowers a few weeks ago...anxiously awaiting their arrival...brightest blessings~

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  4. Lovely,lovely - would not have a year go by without planting those!

    Cheers!

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  5. I think I need to start mine earlier. These are beautiful! Luna Moths love them. :)

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  6. Luna Moths are becoming endangered too, so we are all doing our part to plant the blooms that they love. I want to get my seeds into the ground, but I have to wait until these darn frost warning cease!

    Oh, and don't forget to knick and soak the seeds the night before planting. They will germinate much faster that way.

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