There are many benefits associated with planting a moon garden, something many people have never heard of. The benefits specifically are for pollinators, bats, bees, and moths.

Night pollinators include native bees, bats, and moths. They are attracted to the gardens’ different types of plants, from the white and pale colored flowers that just happen to produce a lot of nectar and are intensely fragrant too. Moon gardens support “third shift” pollinators going about their important work. Here’s how to plan for one.

Types of plants in a moon garden should include flowers in pale shades of yellow, blue, purple, white, cream, pink and green, along with plants that have gray or silver foliage. Pale blooms like evening primrose, snow in summer, snowdrop, white bleeding heart, white daffodil, sweet alyssum, hydrangea, and mock orange (very fragrant), and silvery foliage such as lambs ear, dusty miller, silver, and Russian sage are all good choices and are hardy in our zone.

For more texture, you can add variegated plants like hosta. Another aspect of a moon garden is that the blossoms become more fragrant in the evening. Angel Trumpet is another very fragrant shrub or tree and can reach over six feet tall; with most species being fragrant at night, they will attract moths. There are even more varieties of flowers that can go in your moon garden. All the flowers mentioned are magnets for night pollinators.

Moths are attracted to moon gardens. They are famously attracted to light, and in the moonlight, white flowers show up well. Moths also have an amazing sense of smell; they love flowers that are highly scented. They have very long tongues and will hover over the plants to sip the nectar while others land on the flowers to feed. Sphinx moths will visit honeysuckle, columbine, and amsonia blue star, just to name a few.

Bats benefit from moon gardens, too. By planting fragrant flowers, herbs, and night-blooming plants, you will attract nocturnal insects, which, in turn, lure bats. The more insects, the better. Try planting dahlia, French marigold, nicotiana, evening primrose, thyme, raspberry, or honeysuckle. Any pale-colored flowers planted in your moon garden will also help bring in the bugs.

As for native bees, only a few native bees do their pollinating during the night. Sweet bees are around most of the time, day and night. Working at night, they use the light of the moon and stars to navigate through your garden.

There are many types of sweat bees found all over the United States. “The iridescent sweat bees are found on the eastern side of North America. They range from Manitoba, Canada, south to Florida on a north-south axis and from Nebraska to Massachusetts on the east-west axis. The females of this species of sweat bees are fully iridescent in shades of blue and green, with the exception of amber-colored legs and wings. Males have wide black bands on a goldenrod-yellow metasoma. These bees are considered a consistent pollinator in the eastern half of the United States.” As we all know, most bees, including honeybees, pollinate during the day.

North Haven Garden Club is a member of The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut Inc., New England Garden Clubs Inc., and The National Garden Clubs Inc.