Have you heard of moonlight gardening? It’s a simple concept that can drastically change how you enjoy your garden at night: just plant white-blooming plants and plants with silvery foliage that show up and stand out in the moonlight! Here are a bunch of our favorites to get your design ideas going.
1. White Mandevilla (Mandevilla sanderi)
If you want a tropical feel for your patio, you can’t go wrong with a mandevilla. Give it something to climb on and choose the white variety if you want it to really put on a show in the evening.
2. White Pentas (Pentas lanceolata)
Pentas come in an array of different colors, including this stunning white variety. Great for full sun to partial shade areas and excellent for attracting pollinators.
3. Silver Falls Dichondra (Dichondra argentea)
Our native dichondra aka ponyfoot is very versatile in the landscape. Great for hanging baskets, spilling out of raised beds, and even as a low-water groundcover. Plus, the bright silvery foliage really shines at night.
4. Native Wild Olive (Cordia boissieri)
You can’t miss a wild olive tree at night – they’re covered up in gorgeous white blooms. Some consider it a “messy” tree because of the blooms when they start to drop, but even those scattered spent blooms are beautiful on the ground at night.
5. Silver Dream Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Grehjs’)
As you probably know, there are a ton of different cultivars of our native Texas sage – dwarf varieties, better bloomers, and lots of variations in foliage color. One of the most silvery varieties that would be best suited for moonlight gardening is Silver Dream. This is a nice full-size sage bred from the Desperado variety to produce more blooms.
6. Native Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum)
Blackfoot Daisy has really caught on in the past couple years for great reasons, mainly that it’s extremely drought tolerant and the blooms just make you happy! Plant them in a spot that gets full sun and enjoy the prolific white blooms at night too!
7. Indian Carnation (Tabernaemontana divaricata)
Indian carnation is one of the most elegant plants for shade in our area. They’re well-adapted for our climate and soil, they’re easy to prune and shape, and they produce lots of beautiful white blooms that are lovely during the day and at night.
8. White Periwinkles (Catharanthus roseus)
Despite their delicate appearance, periwinkles aka vinca are tough! Do a mass planting of white periwinkles and you’ll have a lush blanket of white blooms all summer with very little care. Just remember to fertilize regularly to keep those blooms coming.
9. Night Blooming Jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum)
This is the only plant on our list that actually waits to bloom at night. So, not only do you get gorgeous white blooms that show up best at night, you get a special show that only happens at night. Fun fact: Director David Lynch’s headstone features the words “Night Blooming Jasmine”. He viewed the sweet scent of the flower on a warm night as a symbol of Old Hollywood.
10. Little Gem Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little Gem’)
If you want to plant Magnolia trees in our area, we always recommend the Little Gem variety. They don’t get as giant as a Southern Magnolia, but they still reach around 20′ tall, they perform much better in our soil, and they produce the same incredible blooms that we know and love.
11. White Trailing Lantana (Lantana montevidensis ‘Alba’)
Out of the mannny different lantana varieties, the classic white trailing variety is one of the top performers. Excellent for spilling out of containers and raised beds or creating a sprawling ground cover filled with white blooms.
12. Natchez Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei)
It doesn’t get much more classic than the white-blooming Natchez crape myrtle. This is a full size crape myrtle that reaches 20-30′ tall – lots of room for lots of blooms!
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