DESIGN THE ULTIMATE TWILIGHT GARDEN
As the evenings get longer, choose plants with enchanting fragrance and pale, ethereal foliage and blooms
Now that the clocks have gone forward and the nights are getting shorter, wanting to make the most of your garden in the evenings really is a no-brainer, especially if you’re at work all day during the week. And with the right mix of plants and inexpensive lighting, over the coming months you can easily create an enchanting twilight garden that’s an enticing place to be after sundown.
warm evening air encourages night-scented plants to release their heady perfumes. Designed to attract pollinators such as moths, these include night-scented stocks and Nicotiana sylvestris. when it comes to positioning, a south or west-facing part of the garden is ideal, and for maximum olfactory effect the plants should be grouped around a seating area.
Scented climbers such as jasmine, Trachelospermum and honeysuckle are a good way to create an allencompassing fragrance; plant them so they scramble over sun-baked walls or fences. And use perfumed low-growers such as Petunia ‘Surfinia Lime’ and Zaluzianskya ovata (night phlox) in containers. In that way, they can easily be moved closer to seating areas as the evening approaches.
Think carefully about colour. while hot hues like reds and oranges simply fade into the dark, cooler tones – blues, lilacs, creams and whites – develop a luminescence in low light levels, allowing them to come to the fore. white flowers, in particular, can look washed out in midsummer sunshine, but twilight is their time to shine.
Night-scented plants tend to mix fragrance with pale-coloured petals as an added attraction to night-flying insects. But there are plenty of nonscented options that are equally worthy of a place in an evening garden. Look for blooms in pale blues, lilacs, creams and whites, all of which appear to ‘glow’.
As light fades so does our ability to see detail, and it makes sense to focus instead on bold foliage and striking silhouettes. The likes of cardoon, fatsia and large ferns will tick both boxes. Glossy leaves are also useful as they will reflect any light from candles or solar lighting. Try Asarum europaeum as glistening ground cover.
You needn’t spend a fortune, as a few carefully chosen plants and some clever lighting tricks are all it takes. Plan and plant now for a plot that looks lovely by day – and truly magical at night.