The Fairies Are Calling
So many garden catalogs, so little time! The catalogs arrived in my mailbox the end of December, but I was still in post-holiday recovery mode. The recent string of overcast, rainy and dreary days brought on a need to have something to look forward to. I heard the whispering of fairies and noted Winter’s slumber had started to lighten. It was time to envision and plan a garden.
What would it be this year? Keep it consistent or experiment with new plants or a new way to garden? Medicinal, beauty, food, culinary or a bit of all of them? It’s difficult choice. I like to do a bit of all of it. This year’s experimentation is with growing cannabis. The old is a Moon garden, though I let the previous one become overgrown.
A Moon garden consists mostly of plants bearing white flowers with scents and a blooming time that begins at dusk. Many release heavenly scents at dusk when they unfurl their petals. A bench next to the Moon section of the garden enables you to watch the blooms unfold at the magical time between dusk and full dark. It’s a full-on sensual experience: the scents waft through the garden and frequently attract hummingbird moths. They softly buzz from bloom to bloom and hover while their elongated tongue sips the nectar. If the bench is facing East, you can watch the moon slowly rise.
My Moon garden consists of two Moonflower vines (opens at dusk with a mild sweet scent), phlox (they bloom in the daytime but retain their bloom for a day or so the scent lingers and the blooms reflect the moonlight), nicotiana (day bloomers but they last into the evening and give a sweet scent), yarrow (the ferny leaves and lasting white blooms look good together) and evening primrose (the blooms last until dark and the scent is sweet). There are numerous other combinations, but I chose these because they’re a blend of annuals and perennials plus they’re easy to grow. [Disclaimer: I’ve had difficulty starting Moonflowers from seed so I get my seedlings (medicinal and non-medicinal) from Forest Green Farm in Louisa.]
The evening performance of the hummingbird moths combined with the soft rhythmic blinking of fireflies and the slow steady rise of the moon creates a magical moment. It can be a little buggy sitting out at that time of evening. This calls for long pants and long sleeves plus a few squirts of insect repellant for the gaps.
As the cold rain falls, I picture myself sitting on the bench waiting for the moon to rise, watching the slow sensuous unfurling of the blooms and slowly inhaling the fragrant scents and think “Where else would I rather be than right here, right now?” The fairies laugh. They know the value of beauty.