When I think of a moon garden I think of scented plants first rather than just white and green. I like jasmine, pflox, and brugmansia. I think of a place to sit and enjoy the peacefulness of the night in the garden, so whatever is planted there can be enjoyed while relaxing in the cool air. I like the sound of running water too, not a torrent or a waterfall, just a soft splashing sound and the peeps of frogs and crickets nearby. This is the garden I have, and it's a half-moon shaped area inside the turnaround driveway in front of my house. The long straight side that faces the street of the half-moon is enclosed with a brick and iron fence. The half-circle side is marked out with stone that edges the driveway. There are two entrances to this garden, the main entrance has an arbor, the second entrance is just a little footpath. The paths allow you to see all of it, but also require some back-tracking so you get to see some areas from two directions. One circular path has a stone castle in the middle that is inhabited by fairies, or gnomes, I'm not sure which, since I've never seen them, but their tracks are all over the place. They leave their "stuff" laying around, ladders, chairs, dishes, stuff like that. They're kinda messy sometimes, but I let them stay anyway. Passers-by often pull over and peek through the iron fence since there is enough color and interest for it to be eye-catching during the daytime. Nobody stops at night though, because they can't see how wonderful it is in the dark.

To me a moon garden would consist of white, fragrant, plants like Moonflower (impomea) vine, the fragrant nicotiana, maybe some grasses if you have lots of space like gayfeather, abelia, and so on. I don't have a lot of space so I mostly stick to the moonflower vine with its heavenly scent (blooms late in day and stays till morning) bacopia which spreads nicely and is problem-free.

Hi Kallie, I wouldn't say there are must haves, the only thing must have is that you like it. Hardy, inexpensive and fragrant are great requirements. In my garden I try for primarily white flowers, now adding white foliage by way of hosta to prolong the light in the garden when things are not in bloom. Asiatic lilies are great, bloom before the Orientals. Asiatics are generally inexpensive and bloom for a long time, I don't find them fragrant though, at least not like the trumpets or the Orientals. I see you listed Lollypop, that is an Asiatic, it blooms first here for me..then followed by the Stargazer which is an Oriental and fragrant, later in the season my Casa Blanca open, my favorite lily. Actually I can't say that, Madonna lilies are wonderful too. I think annuals carry the show alot, so I use a lot of them too. You can count on them to reflect the light..expecially the shiny white impatiens. Any way you look at it or do it, I am sure you'll enjoy it. The thing is, if you are looking for constant white in bloom you need to vary what you have in there..for the most part, annuals bloom all summer long, so if you have favorite shrubs or scents include them. If it were me I'd chose my Dwarf Mockorange Minnesota Snowflake, blooms for a long time, entire shrub covered in deliciously fragrant double white blooms. Maybe a white peony, some white daffodils for the spring..Mt Hood, Polar ice, Colblanc, maybe some frittilaria melagris alba...all not too expensive if you start out slow. White iris are pretty, stand out and are inexpensive. There are white garden mums for later in the season, and of course there are the annuals, just about everything comes in white ( ok, an exageration, but there are a lot) Just be mindful of your sun/shade/moisture and mature plant size when planting. Of course, the moonflower is not to be left out, you should experience it at least once. ( Annual vine ) Well, good luck, hope this helps somewhat...JoAnn

Well, I see no one else is jumping in on this for you, but you'll want to choose plants that are silver or white, and some folks include black and blue as well. Some include those with moon associations, like moonflower or willow, and many include night-blooming/fragrant plants as well. Good choices: Moonflowers Artemesias Dusty Miller (annual) White Cosmos (annual) White roses Night Blooming Phlox (annual) Phlox paniculata, white varieties Globe Thistle, Arctic Glow is white, but the blue is nice, too Eryngiums Brugmansias and Daturas (will need overwintered inside) Liatris-white Shasta Daisies Centratherum rubra v. alba (white Jupiter's beard) Valerian Vervain White Poppies (black peony-flowered ones look cool mixed in) Boltonia Bronze Fennel (lovely dark background for the flowers) White Lilies Scabiosa-blue or white Buddleia-white or blue Jasmine (will need to winter indoors) Achillea ptarmica, sneezewort Babies Breath Nicotiana "Only the Lonely" Echinacea "White Swan" Campanula, white or blue Dichondra "Silver Falls" (annual, this is the first year I've planted it) White dianthus, or the white picotee annual variety, Velvet n Lace Lychnis, white I like the idea of hanging baskets in my moon garden, as well as bird feeders, so I use double shepherd's hooks for them. I like the drapey look of long vines in the hanging baskets, and petunias and other heavily flowering annual plants in the baskets. HTH, Celene