Magical Night Gardens

  It seems as if some gardens are prettier at night than during the day.  Let a full moon occur and every white bloom in the garden literally glows.  Some flowers bloom exclusively at night but even those that are day bloomers take on a different appearance. While there is not much in the way of gorgeous flowers in the garden this late in the summer due to the heat, there are those that insist on carrying on with their budding.  The Madonna Lilies are towering over my head and have dozens of huge, white trumpets, the four-o'clocks wither flat each day but early evening brings their fragrant, hot pink buds bursting open and the moon flowers now cover the jasmine arbor and delicately unfurl their plate-sized blooms at dusk.  Throw in a few night blooming cereus buds and the almost nonexistent daytime garden is a wonderland at night.

  This evening, I stepped out the front door to catch a quick glimpse of the moon flowers in bloom.   A slow, drizzling rain made the intoxicating aromas of the garden blooms hang heavy around me.  A few moths were busy visiting the blooms before the rains strengthened and made feeding impossible.  There also were a couple of billion mosquitoes there!  All of that beauty had to be absorbed in a matter of minutes before I raced back inside.  My nighttime garden would have to wait until I am able to whip up some herbal bug balm.  Tonight's visit was just sampler.  My magical night garden will soon be at its best!