A tour of the Moon Garden at White Flower Farm
A tour of the Moon Garden at White Flower Farm Transcript
Hi. I’m Cheryl, Head Gardener of White Flower farm. Welcome to our Moon Garden. This style of gardening emphasizes the use of white flowering and silver leaved plants in the border. The idea is that the whites and the silvers will tend to glow as the daylight wanes and the garden can be appreciated well into the evening hours. The garden becomes even more magical when basked in the moonlight.
The original moon garden here was planted circa 1950 by the original owners of White Flower Farm, Jane Grant and William Harris. The garden has been maintained as a moon garden ever since.Two white blooming tree wisterias have always been the anchor of this garden. And tradition dictates that white flowered alpine strawberries define the front edge offering up sweet treats all summer long. White flowered perennials come into bloom respectfully throughout the growing season. Each takes center stage when it’s their time to shine then quietly steps back becoming a supporting actor to the next perennial in the limelight.
High summer is dominated by a burst of sweet smelling white domes of the tall phlox, Phlox paniculata ‘David’. Also acting out at this time is Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’ and the silvery spires of Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Album’ much to the delight of the bees and butterflies. The addition of annuals into this garden scheme is a change from Harris and Grant’s original design which did not contain annuals at all. I add in white flowering annuals each season in order to maintain the constant of white blooms within the border as the perennials go in and out of bloom.
This season’s bedding scheme includes the waist-high fresh faces of Cosmos ‘Sonata White’, the spikey cactus flowered Dahlia ‘Klondike’, the very reliable Angelonia ‘Archangel White’ and the sweet scented Lobularia ‘White Knight’ mingling at the edge with the alpine strawberries. To me the idea of a moon garden is really quite enchanting. Perhaps our Moon Garden will inspire you to create your own version and just maybe your evenings on the patio will be that much more enjoyable…maybe even magical.