Hi, Shelly! And welcome back!
That's great that you have a moon garden. I grow some night blooming plants just so I can watch the sphinx moths. Don't forget that you can sow some plants from seed, though, that might be better started from seed, like the moonflower (Ipomeae alba. Mmmmm, they smell so good and the moths adore them. They also love Daturas, Brugmansias, Nicotianas, 4 o'clocks, Chocolate Daisies.

You don't have to limit a white garden to just plants that bloom at night, though. For example, white lilies, like Casa Blanca, are very, very fragrant, and will bloom all day and night. White phlox, white alyssum, white foxgloves, white cypress vine, hardy white hibiscus, white vitex, white Baptisia, white petunias, white liatris, and silver-foliage plants such as helichrysum, white sages, etc. will provide some filler to the blooming plants as well.

Good luck and welcome back! Select Seeds is a great source!

Susan

Welcome back, Shelly.

Our online family has grown a lot the last couple of years.

Like Susan, I grow oodles of night-bloomers for the moths, and Select Seed is one of my favorite seed and plant sources too.

Dawn

Thanks for the warm welcomes! One surprising plant I found for the Moon Garden was Plumbago. No fragrance, but the blue really pops at night and gives a jolt of color amid all the white. I also have the yellow night-blooming daylilies, so that also adds some color.

I planted a lot of lilies last year, and am looking forward to them blooming this year. I have Star Gazers, some yellow ones that are similar to Star Gazers (I forgot the name!) Formosa lilies, Pink Perfection lilies, and some others.

I am all about the fragrance, whether day or night!

Funny you mention the white liatris, I've been looking for some, but haven't been able to find any. I had thought it would go well in there, too!

If anyone here grows tomatoes from seed, do you direct sow them into the garden, or do you pot them up then put them out?

Thanks!

Shelly

Shelly,
Hi. Glad to see you posting. The mention of tomatoes draws my attention. I like to grow a few. I will list some of my methods before the guru's come along and give theirs. I would say 90-95% start theirs inside and grow them under lights for a while then pot up. Then the rest usually winter sow in containers. This year I will start around half of mine in the house and grow under lights. About 40% will be winter sown in cold and hot frames and 5-10% will be direct winter sown. I either use plastic buckets with plastic over the tops or WOW's on the direct sown. I pot up the majority of the others. But do move some direct to the garden in WOW's and buckets rather than pot up.

The direct winter sowing is still an experiment with me. I've had some good results and some not so good. If a person wanted to try it I would only do it with a few as an experiment. It isn't something I would suggest anyone doing with all or most of their plants. I live on the state line in the OK Panhandle. So my conditions are some different than most on this board. So what works for me here doesn't necessarily for the others on this forum. Hope you have a great 2010 gardening year. JD

Welcome back Shelly! Looking forward to swapping stories and advice (thanks for the tip on lasagna gardening!). I love the idea of moon gardening but am starting from scratch with everything this year and quite enough on my plate already LOL. I am definitely having to rein myself in, like you said!

Faerybutterflye (love the name!)- I started small with my moon garden. A packet of moonflower vine seeds (Ipomoea Alba) and a packet of datura seeds scattered around where I liked to sit in the evenings. Also, a lot of people don't know this, but dark purple petunias are fragrant in the evening as well. ;) I put those in pots next to my bench. Also 4 o'clocks, super easy to grow from scattered seeds and they are good reseeders, as well. That is a great start, and you'll have a base to add to for next year!

I also planted Abbysinnian Gladiolus around. They are fragrant at night, and they are bulbs, so they multiply well. They look great in a mixed border. You can find bags of these bulbs at Wal-Mart, Lowes, and places like that. I consider these a Moon Garden Staple! They are hardy here, so that is always a plus.

Elkwc-thanks for the tomato tips! I've never used a WOW before. I always thought they looked neat, but wasn't sure how they worked. Plus, I'm afraid between the dog and chickens, they might get torn up! I've got some fencing I am going to put up while the seeds are getting established, but I'm not sure if it is going to keep the chickens out, or not. They are pretty persistent, and they love coming in the backyard to scratch around. Maybe instead of putting the fencing around the plants, I need to add it to the top of the fencing I already have to keep them from flying over?? I've got some really special tomato seeds I need to germinate, and want to make sure I get some viable plants from them.

Can't wait to get to know everyone better! This looks like a really fun place!

Shelly

Shelly, Brent & Becky's Bulbs has the Liatris floristan 'Alba' corms for sale and I recommend them. Always a good source for unusual, rare, different things. I've attached a link for you. I don't have the white, but do have the regular purple ones. They do very well, no pests that I have noticed, and the butterflies and hummers love them, too!

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Liatris floristan 'Alba'

Shelly, thanks! The name fits my nature...I am a little nature faery, hehe. Anyway, thanks so much for the tips! I also enjoy sitting out on the front porch with a glass of sweet tea and a book in the evenings. Scattering some seeds sounds simple enough. Do I need to have something for the vine to climb on? (I'm new to this whole thing so I am gonna ask some dumbass questions, I'm sure LOL)

I have a bag of mixed gladiolus that I got at Sam's Club but it doesn't specify types, so I hope it is a hardy type! My daylilies are Stella D'Oro but I believe they only bloom during the day. And I have a bag of mixed caladiums and some colocasia elephant ears for underneath my tree in front, it is just bare soil and roots, so UGLY! It bothered me all year, looking at the naked dirt all season LOL! So I decided to try my luck with making a shade bed under there.

Shelley,
When I have special or scarce seeds I start at least part in not all inside. If I have a fair number I may start a few outside. With limited numbers I always start them all inside. I hope they do well for you. What variety are they. I maybe begging for seeds later. LOL. Jay

Shelley,

The reason we start tomato seeds inside is so we have plants ready to go into the ground as soon as the weather allows. For most tomatoes (excluding all the small bite-sized ones), summer's hot temperatures seriously impede pollination. Setting out transplants in April or early May allows our plants to gain some size and bloom and set fruit before the real heat arrives in mid- to late-June and starts slowing down or even stopping fruit set. If you direct-seed tomatoes, you plants won't hit blooming age until about the same time the temperatures get hot enough to slow down or halt pollination. So, even though you 'can' direct-seed and eventually (in the fall) get fruit in our climate, transplants give better results in terms of both earlier harvest and pounds of fruit per plant.

If you have a special variety of tomato seed that Jay doesn't have, I'll be surprised. He's got the seed of several hundred varieties, many of them quite special and rare.

Dawn

Susan-I might have to try them again. I tried them years ago and didn't have much luck. I do have to say, though, their Customer Service is AWESOME!!! It's been a few years, so it's about time, I think.

Faery- The vines will grow on anything...porch railings, fence, chair, arbor, tomato cage...if you want an instantly lush look, plant that vine! A tip for under the tree, I'd put in some hostas. They fill in quickly, grow well in tight spaces and you can divide them and edge another bed in a few years! You can also try a hydrangea or two under that tree. Or what about azaleas?

Jay- They are the Red Hawaiian Currant. I got some plants years ago from Darrell Merrill (The Tomato Man). He lived down the road from us, and had them every year. His daughter took over when he got sick, and she quit carrying them. I had a few come up from seed year before last, and my lovely son tried to help me and moved them and they died of shock. Haven't been able to find them locally, but recently traded on here for some. They are perfect for salads or snacking.

Shelly