Love your column and your expertiseon plants etc in our area...Where
can I purchase the Night blooming, pink epiphyllum you have pictured
in your column? Is it hard to grow and good for the Tampa Bay area?
Thanks.
Merilee in St.Pete
In My Garden Blog
Coastal and Tropical South
May 24, 2007
By
Nellie Neal,
Baton Rouge, LA
This night-blooming epiphyllum variety makes it worth staying up late.
Evenings at Home
Busy lives can keep us away from home much of the day. Luckily there are particular joys in the night garden, and good opportunities. Though some important chores like irrigation can be automated, nothing can replace the gardener for deadheading flowers or looking out for pest problems. And after dark may be the best time to search for slugs, snails, and sleepy beetles under the green beans. Ever considered donning a miner's helmet so you can garden after dark?
Night Life
If you suspect an armadillo is digging up your beds in search of white grubs, prepare to stay up late to catch him on the open lawn. Then you can set up a trap to catch and release that armadillo elsewhere. Grooming plants can certainly be done by moonlight, night lighting, or even by flashlight, but weeding is best done in sunlight, especially if you allow some favorite flowers to reseed. It would be a shame to pull out all the yarrow hiding under the taller chickweed you were trying to remove.
Removing the Hazards
To enjoy the garden while the moonflowers bloom, you must keep it clear of hazards. The tomato cage or rake you meant to put away but left in the path can ruin a late night garden stroll. When the sprinkler system comes, drenching the crowd in a movie, it's funny. If it happens in your garden, it's not. Adjust system timers and the flow rates of fountains so their splash doesn't create slippery conditions.
Mosquitoes are a downside to night gardening, but a fan or two can help keep them at bay and citronella candles and spray-on bug dope will repel them. Put together a night gardening bag containing insect repellant and flashlights or light sticks. A bottle with a splash of bleach in it and a pair of tweezers will be handy if you're looking for snails among the petunias.
Maybe the best reason to garden at night is the luminous and fragrant flowers -- from night-blooming jasmine and flowering tobacco to the epiphyllums with their fantastic flowers that open like targets to welcome the night flyers. The relatively cooler temperatures don't hurt either. Forget about aromatherapy and be glad for occasional insomnia; the sights and smells of night gardening are waiting right outside your door.
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Comments on Evenings at Home
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We welcome your questions and comments about this column. If you have gardening questions unrelated to the column, please ask them on our message boards.
Merilee Hampton
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Dee from St. Augustine
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I would also like to inquire where I can purchase the beautiful
flower Merillee mention... the night blooming
"E....whatever". thanks.
Nellie Neal
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To Merrilee and Dee,
I wish I knew just where to send you, but I don't. The Epis will
grow very well all over Florida and surely are for sale, but many
more are swapped among friends. Keep a sharp eye out at the
nurseries and search online for sources.
Chuck
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Go to http://www.epies.net/ to look at their huge selection of these
flowers. Do keep in mind there are several varieties, some bloom
only once a season, others only at night, some by day, etc.
The other drawback is that they only grow flowers on old growth, two
years or more. So be prepared to patiently wait a season or so on
some of them.
They are tropical and will freeze, but most of them are so east to
grow, not fussy.
Chuck
Nellie Neal
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Thanks, Chuck. Your information will be helpful to everyone who
shares our love of these unusual plants.
Laura S.
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To your point about using a miner's hat, I DO occasionally use my
husband's camping headlamp if the sun sets before I get all my
gardening chores done. It doesn't work for everything, but it does
let me eke out a little more gardening time at the end of the day,
when the temperatures are a lot more bearable, too. You can find
basic headlamps for less than $20 on many camping/outdoor sites.
They're great for heading down to the dark basement to fix that
blown fuse, too.