The night garden in early summer glows with spires of creamy, bell-shaped blossoms.

‘Bright Edge’ yucca sends up these towers of flowers, perfect for a moonlight garden.

Paleleaf yucca (Y. pallida) gets in on the act too, sending up its own tall flower spike over powder-blue leaves.

‘Fireworks’ gomphrena and ‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleome add pinks to the scene, with the paler cleome showing up better at dusk.

Yellow Hesperaloe parviflora adds a little moonshine to the garden after dark. An uplight on the big Yucca rostrata gives it nighttime drama.

Yucca flowers get right up in your face, and what’s not to love?

Lanceleaf blanketflower (Gaillardia aestivalis) illuminated by an uplight on a metal prickly pear

‘Bright Edge’ yucca flowers seem to glow under string lights.

Variegated squid agave (Agave bracteosa ‘Monterrey Frost’) has a creamy-white leaf edge that shows up well when the sun goes down.

Out front, an uplight illuminates a Japanese maple’s filigreed canopy. At the patio’s edge, a datura opens a single fragrant flower.

A sweet scent and exquisite white flowers that open at dusk. Calling all sphinx moths!

An older, larger datura sprawls alongside the driveway. Recently there were a dozen or so furled trumpets that spiraled open before my eyes, releasing their sweet fragrance to the night air.

The perfect moon garden plant.

Another ‘Bright Edge’ yucca doing its thing. Somehow the deer overlooked this bloom spike for a few days. Oh and look — the white-painted house has a soft glow after dark too.

The island bed at dusk: ‘Old Mexico’ prickly pear and ‘Vanzie’ whale’s tongue agave in back; gopher plant, ‘Bright Edge’ yucca, and volunteer pine muhly in front.

But now, back to the datura extravaganza!

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Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.