Moonlight Gardens in the Desert

Another favorite pic of mine snapped last year from my roof as I am counting down to the one year anniversary of Las Aventuras Blog.

I spend hours upon hours reading about landscape design, garden themes, and plants to place around homes during our winter downtime. This is perhaps one of my favorite writes in a while as the topic is really interesting.  A wonderful colleague of mine from work brought this garden theme to my attention last year.  I have been researching Moonlight Gardens in the desert for several months now and have found a lot of material on it.  What is a moonlight garden? Why would someone have it? What does it look like?  What kind of plants would you use?  Hopefully I will answer your questions on this very special write about an idea that I think is very magical in nature.

Movies inspire with great storytelling and great acting......but they can also engage the imagination through scenery and landscape.  A couple movies that come to mind are On Golden Pond and the epic Lord of the Rings. When I think "moonlight garden", my mind immediately flashes to a memorable scene from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy where Galadriel is walking barefoot on grass towards a fountain in the moonlight.  I think this scene captures the magic and idea of what a Moonlight Garden represents. Through my travels, I have seen evenings smothered by moonlight and I think that once someone has experienced something so enchanting, they want to recreate it in their own gardens.  If you haven't seen the moon over a still and quiet ocean, the desert, or shining bright through a forest canopy,  this idea may be mumbo jumbo to you, but trust me, it can take your breathe away.  Let's explore Tucsonans and why they enjoy their evenings.

Highly recommended for a large pot or planter, this fragrant night bloomer casts a spell in your garden.  The flower opens at night and floods our courtyard with a lovely smell. It is recommended for a moonlight garden. Picture taken from a planter in our courtyard.

Some people reading this blog will understand because they live in the desert; others will understand because they are "night owls"; while others will read this and think the evening is for sleep. Tucsonans, during the summer, will generally stay out of the heat during the day because it's hot. However, when the sun sets during our summer months, people leave their homes for outdoor dining.  The evenings, especially during monsoon, are balmy and tropical.....sometimes with beautiful lightening storms over the mountains. I don't know if anyone has written about the "night culture"  in the Old Pueblo, but within my community, many of my neighbors are up late at night to go on a walk, take a dip in their pools, have a drink on their patios, or just sit absorbing the night air.  My favorite times are when the power goes out in the city and everything is dark and quiet.....if the citrus is in bloom, El Presidio becomes a very special space. As you can see, moonlight gardening is a wonderful gardening theme....especially if you are up to enjoy the night air.

A night time bloomer, this Night-Blooming Cereus packs a punch in a Moonlight Garden. This plant will only bloom at night and shut its' flower in the morning.

Okay, we've explored the why and sentiment behind this idea.....what about the technical part?  What plants should someone use in their desert gardens?  Stick with plants that have white flowers or a silver grey color leaf.  Texas Sage and lavender are good examples of that silvery foliage I'm describing....plus they have beautiful purple flowers during the day.  White oleander is a good shrub along a fenceline.  For cacti, we can use the Twin-Spined Cactus or the Night Blooming Cereus(several varieties of this plant).  For groundcover, there is the Tufted Evening Primrose and for a smaller bush, there is the Powis Castle Artemisia.  If you have planters and pots, a white datura is great.  Do not put this plant into the ground as it requires a lot of water!!!  I use datura for a single reason in our garden space......when I'm on vacation during the hot summer months, this plant tells my substitutes that the garden may need some water.  If the leaves droop, my gardening friends know it's time to water the pots around the property:)  Several other plants that are favorites for moonlight gardens are the Argentine giant cactus, dusty miller, foxglove, lamb's ear, silver torch cactus(MY FAVORITE!!), Texas Olive(messy), and yucca.  The key to creating this style of garden is A. Think of the leaf and how moonlight would reflect off of it...silver grey leaves will reflect the moonlight  B. White flowers that bloom at night and C. Cacti spines that will also reflect(sorry to write this again, but I love Silver Torch!!!).

Well, there you have it.....a Moonlight Garden for your desert space.  I am excited because my friend who introduced me to this idea is buying a new place and wants to implement this garden theme.  I love designing new spaces!!!  El Presidio is pretty much all done....so a new garden area and design are fun to explore:) Until next time........

Cactus Crazy at Tohono Chul Park!!!

What a great morning!  I went over to one of Tucson's great local gems and did some cactus shopping.  Tohono Chul Park has so much for the desert gardener to see and it seems to me to be a place where the local aficionados gets together.  So while I wouldn't recommend it for a tourist on a tight schedule, I would say to a Tucsonan....go and get your desert on!!!

The cactus sale was incredible and had a huge variety of plants for the cactus and succulent garden.  I went on a mission and my goal was to purchase just 2 plants!!  The Crested and Totem Pole Cactus will have to wait until next time as I have chosen the Cereus and the Silver Torch.  They will add texture and color to the cactus garden on my window sill....it's hard just picking a couple as I had wanted to buy a WHOLE lot more:) Oh money...why couldn't you grow on trees?  The people and guides at the park were knowledgable and extremely helpful.

Locals take cacti for granted and do not appreciate the fact that we can grow these very unique plants in our gardens.  I love how they have their separate shapes and forms.....and when put with colorful pots or art, they really add a lot of design punch.

For the serious gardener, I would highly recommend this place for the design.  There is a restaurant here where you can relax and ponder about your own garden while viewing the desert landscape.  It's absolutely incredible.  The sale was called "Monsoon Madness" and I would say that the prices were fair compared to places like Home Depot or Lowe's.  They were about 10 dollars cheaper than the retail outlets, but I did my local duty and supported our growers here:)

Now about the fun....I just love Tucson.  There is so much to admire about this place even if it is 112 degrees out there!! I was on my way up to the cactus sale and a strange man was approaching me mumbling something like..."brracnack".  I didn't know if he was one of the special ones that walk this Earth or if he had been senile, but he kept repeating it softly.  It could also be that I am losing my hearing:) So I kept going thinking whatever...but I am very observant and found out rather quickly that he was saying "black snake". My heart started beating at the discovery.  I just watched the slinky critter cross my path taking his time. I have a lot of respect for snakes, but they do give me the heebie jeebies.  With that said, I do get angry at people who throw rocks at them or bring out the shovel to chop them up into little pieces. Why, as people, do we treat our natural friends so poorly?  So perhaps the man was freaking out and letting me know ....Or  aware of people's skiddish reactions..... Or letting me know quietly so that it didn't attract a million people....I'd like to think it's the latter and that this guy was just a sensitive genius.  I watched and smiled...what luck I had today!!  I also have several other pics and a movie to share...they have the most beautiful butterfly garden there. I saw a lot of the Queen Butterflies out and they resemble the Monarch, but apparently according to local fauna, they don't taste like Monarch:)

Finally in the landscape today, I discovered the name of the vine that is crawling up the ramada.  A person at Tohono Chul told me that it is a wild native grape vine....I'm not sure how the grapes will taste.

 I cracked more castor pods open and gathered more seeds.  I have a half a bucket left.  No wonder the seeds are so cheap at the store....I have definitely gotten my money back on these guys.  And lastly,  the datura has two buds!!  These plants have a beautiful bell shaped flower that hang down.  At night, they give off a sweet smelling fragrance that floats around our courtyard.  Until next time, happy gardening!!

The catepillar above is the Pipevine.