night garden

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Tuesday, August 18, 2009
It was so lovely this evening that I sat outside for a while after dark to just be out in it. The sky is clearing up from our week of clouds (now that the perseids are over, not that I'm paranoid or convinced of weather conspiracies or anything), and the temperature was perfect. It was so nice my only thought was how lucky I was to be there. (this is a magical thing when you spend a lot of time trying not to be disappointed, which seems to be occupying me a fair bit lately. I need an attitude realignment or something.)

Have you noticed certain flowers have a stronger fragrance after dark? Weird, right? but awesome. White flowers are particularly known for this. In the day I'm drawn to red, hot pink, orange, green, all that showy business, but the night time is the right time for white flowers. I don't quite know how to describe the scent -- it's not just the smell itself, which is usually sweet, but how it kind of hangs in the air, lovely and lightly humid like the beach or hawaii or a gilded age lawn party. I'm lucky to have a nicotiana (flowering tobacco plant) that is very fragrant and right near the front door so I walk by it often. (I thought it was the one called Only the Lonely, but I'm pretty sure now it's Fragrant Cloud.) It is AMAZING and came back from seeds I planted a million years ago. Jasmine and gardenias would be good night garden choices, but I think they're too tender for Portland's wet soggy winter. (Jasmine might work, though.) I'd like to do some moonflowers -- they don't smell, but some of them are as big as dinner plates! They're on vines and grow really fast, which makes me want to make a moonflower structure of some sort. (which, if my bean tower is any indication, would grow too heavy and collapse on itself but then become a beautiful sort of ruin.) I think they would act like moonlight reflectors, which is no doubt how they got their name. Also good for casting white light in the dark: phlox, light colored zinnias, light colored dahlias, lilies. A datura would be nice. (also known as angel's trumpet, which was featured in the Wicked Plants book since it's all poisonous, all the time. But so tall and pretty!)

anyway, I guess I don't really have any point here other than: it was really nice outside tonight.
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