With our busy schedules, there isn’t enough time to spend working in the garden, much less relaxing and enjoying it. A simple solution is to create a garden that can be enjoyed when there is free time - from late afternoon through the night.

Darkness has its advantages. It is hard to see weeds in the dark, so you feel no guilt about enjoying the garden. It takes about twenty minutes for your eyes to adjust to darkness, forcing you to slow down in the garden. In summer it is most enjoyable to sit outdoors with friends or family. Watching the garden is more entertaining than TV or video. You’ll be surprised at the sights, sounds and scents of the garden in the evening.

A garden planned for evening enjoyment is attractive during the day, yet it really comes into its glory as the light begins to fade. Bright, warm colored flowers like black-eyed Susans and cardinal flowers glow in the warm light of the late afternoon. As the sun wanes, pale and cool colored flowers like isotoma, bluebells, and purple clematis take on a life of their own, seeming to fluoresce. As darkness descends, leaves with light colored variegations stand out - variegated ivies are visible as groundcovers while their deep green-leafed cousins become invisible. White and pale flowers appear to float in the air, their earthly attachments of green stems and leaves fade and blend into the surrounding darkness. White flowers like autumn clematis, sweet alyssum and candytuft are visible even in the dimmest light, and during a full moon they really pop out of the landscape. Moonlight also accentuates plants with silver foliage like dusty miller, artemisia, lamb's ears, and even artichokes.

For pure sensory pleasure, I sit outside in the dark with the lights off and concentrate on the fragrances of my garden at night. The scents become headier as summer progresses and white-flowered tuberoses, summer hyacinth, and flowering tobacco bloom. Some flowers are fragrant only after the sun goes down, a scented lure for their nocturnal pollinators. What a thrill to see a luna moth, one of nature's magnificent creations, flitting around the garden phlox by moonlight.

The true stars of the evening garden are those flowers that only open at night. Mid to late summer brings out the moonflowers and angel's trumpets. After sunset, it is fascinating to watch moonflowers evolve from tightly closed buds that gradually unfurl until at last they burst open and fill the night air with their perfume. Four o'clocks may open later than their name implies, but their flowers are a great addition to the evening garden with their sweet aroma.