Follow these tips to create an enchanting Moon Garden filled with luminescent flowers and foliage. Light up the night and enjoy the magic of your very own moon garden!

What is a Moon Garden?

A moon garden is a unique type of garden that plays upon the illumination of the moon. Consisting primarily of fragrant white flowering plants and silver or variegated foliage, a moon garden truly shines in the evening when a full moon’s light is reflected in it.

While a moon garden is not super complicated, there are a few tips to keep in mind to make yours as magical as possible!

Step 1: Choose the Right Location for Your Moon Garden

Consider the amount of sunlight available and the size of your moon garden when planning. If you plant one in full shade, the tree canopy might prevent the moonlight from illuminating the foliage and blossoms. If that’s your only option, try adding solar path lights or string lights to compensate.

At the same time, a garden in full sun might lack the height and coziness of a wooded fairytale setting. Adding a structure like an arbor or trellis with climbing white flowers would help build the enchanting quality of a moon garden.

I personally prefer partial shade with dappled light and a white pebble stone path through it to catch the light from the moon and reflect it back.

Step 2: Choose Your Moon Garden Plants

• Start with foundation or base plants to anchor the garden.
• Look for large plants with white flowers like hydrangeas, preferably scented such as gardenias and roses. These are the stars of the show.

• Next add in plants with silvery leaves or variegated foliage like wooly lamb’s ear, deadnettle, dusty miller (see my silly chicken in it!), and hostas. These are your ‘supporting actors’.

• Fill in the empty spaces with small flowering plants like sweet alyssum, impatiens and petunias. These are your ‘extras’!

• Don’t forget the climbers! Jasmine, honeysuckle and mandevilla look lovely in the light of the moon.

• Pay attention to the seasons and plan to have blooms throughout the year by planting bulbs and mixing perennials and annuals.

Best Moon Garden Plants

I created three charts to help you choose the best moon garden plants. All of these plants feature white blossoms; many are fragrant; and the lists span all four seasons for year-round interest.

Feel free to download pdf files!

• Moon Garden Flowers (download pdf file).
• Moon Garden Shrubs (download pdf file).
• Moon Garden Vines (download pdf file)

Step 3: Add Fairytale Features!

Add special features to your moon garden to really make it magical. The goal is to create a fairytale setting in your evening stroll through the moon garden.

• Pop in solar path lights or string lights to illuminate the garden when the moon is hidden.
• Hang a wind chime for a soothing sound feature.
• Add a white bench for seating.
• Perhaps a piece of garden art that is light in color or celestial in nature can be tucked into an open spot.

• I love this pebble mosaic at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Have fun being creative with your moon garden by choosing special plants and accessories to make it enchanting.

Moon Garden Examples:

Lake House Moon Garden~

For my current moon garden, I chose a section on the side of our house along the path to our backyard. It’s very shaded with dappled light, so I needed to add some path lights to help the moon out! I planted Zebra Hydrangeas with white blossoms to be the building blocks.

In front of these, I layered deadnettle (lamium maculatum ‘Beacon Silver’) and white impatiens. In between the hydrangeas, I tucked in a few tubers called Honorine Jobert Anemone. I rounded out the garden with silvery ferns and variegated hostas. At the time this is written (July ‘23), my moon garden is in its first season. It’s still looking a little rough, but I will add updated photos as it matures.

Greenville House Moon Garden~

At our previous house, we had a moon garden in the front corner of our property next to a large grove of magnolia trees covered with giant fragrant blooms. The moon garden was bordered with a vintage wrought iron fence and gate covered in scented Confederate Jasmine. White single peonies blossomed at the entrance.

Inside the moon garden, Japanese anemones shined in the glow.

Every year, white grape hyacinths and Lily of the Valley kicked off the spring season followed by white peonies and variegated hostas. Japanese Painted ferns and fragrant tea olives bordered the edges.

Under an airy dogwood tree were white Lenten roses (Hellebores) that lined the stone path. My favorite was the end of summer and early fall when the white anemones finally bloomed. They were so delicate and swayed with the wind creating a fairytale moon garden.

Try a Moon Garden in Containers

Another option for a moon garden is to use containers. If you are limited with space, focus on a deck or patio. Try using light reflecting white containers or dark contrasting colored containers to really make the white blossoms shine.

Then follow the “Thriller, Filler and Spiller” formula for container planting with moon garden plants. Begin with a focal “thriller” plant like a patio hydrangea and surround it with “filler” white flowers like petunias or white verbena. Finish with “spillers” like sweet alyssum or bacopa to trail over the edge of the container. Arrange around the deck or patio with some string lights and enjoy an enchanting moon garden.

Whether your moon garden is tucked away like a secret oasis or simply arranged on your back deck in containers, take time to relax in your fairytale garden illuminated by the moonlight.

Breathe in the fragrant blossoms and marvel at the beauty of an enchanting moon garden!

To enjoy even more flowers, try growing a Beginner Cut Flower Garden with my easy printable plan.

Like finding quiet time in your garden? Read 6 Ways to Create a Relaxing Garden.