Check out these Best Night-Flowering Houseplants and create a fragrant indoor garden with beautiful blooms.
Create a moon garden indoors by growing Night-Flowering Houseplants that shine with silver or white foliage in the light of the moon.
Science Behind Night Blooming Houseplants
Certain plant species have developed across millions of years to open only during the night. The reason behind this adaptation is they prefer to charm night-flying insects that serve as their pollinators.
One interesting fact about these nighttime bloomers is that they are more likely to be seen in a white hue with a pleasant fragrance as night-flying insects search them by aroma.
Another reason why some plants open only during the evening or at night is that it assists them in preserving moisture and energy in dry climates.
Well, it doesn’t matter what the reason is; by including night-flowering houseplants in your indoor garden, you can have a starry moonlit evening.
Night-Flowering Houseplants
1. Lady of the Night (Brunfelsia americana)
This tropical, evergreen shrub is also known as night-blooming jasmine, though it is not a true jasmine but a member of the nightshade family.
It is often grown as a vine outdoors, where it can reach up to 8-10 feet tall and 3 feet wide. However, you can grow it indoors in moist soil, warm temperatures, near a window that gets bright indirect light for up to 5-6 hours
The jasmine-like flowers will fill your home with an intoxicating fragrance.
2. Orchid Cactus (Epiphyllum spp.)
This night-blooming plant got its name because of showy, large, colorful blossoms that look like orchids. These scented flowers appear on succulent stems in a range of shades, from pink to purple to white to yellow.
Orchid cactus is an epiphytic plant from tropical South and Central America. They get water and nutrients from the host plant and air near them.
When growing it as a houseplant, try to imitate warm, moist, humid conditions, the same as their natural habitat. Plant this plant in a hanging basket and place it away from direct sun in an area with lots of humidity.
3. Night Fragrant Orchid (Epidendrum nocturnum)
Native to Florida, Mexico, northern South America, and regions of the West Indies. This easy-to-grow orchid flowers many times a year. It can adjust to a range of conditions.
It offers five tube-shaped, scented flowers on short stem raceme, dark green foliage, long petals, and sepals.
This plant favors a temperature range between 65-80 F in the day with a 10 F fall during the night to encourage blooming.
4. Queen of the Night Cactus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum)
Queen of the Night Cactus belongs to North America’s Sonoran Desert. This low-maintenance plant flowers once a year.
This drought-tolerant plant enjoys up to 6 hours of bright or dappled indirect light; place the plant on a south-facing window. It needs temperature between 68-95 F and normal level of humidity. Use well-drained soil that keeps moisture for growing this plant.
NOTE: Feed this epiphyte in spring and summer once using a dilute plant food rich in potassium and phosphate before and after flowering.
5. Night Phlox (Zaluzianskya ovata)
It thrives outdoors in USDA zones 9-11 and also as a houseplant. This South African native plant features daisy-like flowers that emit a sweet honey-like fragrance and green leaves. Night phlox can grow up to a foot tall and 2-3 feet wide.
Grow night phlox indoors in an area with a warm temperature; use well-draining soil.