Night Bloomers

HERE ARE SOME night-bloomers to plant near a patio or porch, near an outdoor dining area, or near a window:

EVENING PRIMROSE, Oenothera pallida, has cup-shaped blossoms of soft, clear white that gradually fade to pink, releasing a perfume that has been likened to honeysuckle mixed with lemon custard -- even harder to imagine than most scents -- and what's more, it's changeable, a bit different each night!

NIGHT-SCENTED STOCK, Matthiola longipetala subsp. bicornis, has pink, white, and lavender double flowers with spicy-sweet, deeply fragrant spikes on branching plants. It makes a wonderful cut flower and does best where summers are cool.

FLOWERING TOBACCO, Nicotiana alata, produces creamy-white tubular flowers that are closed in the daytime but open in the late afternoon to fill the evening air with an intense, haunting, jasmine-like scent.

FOUR O'CLOCKS, Mirabilis jalapa, an easy-to-grow, old-fashioned favorite, gets its common name from its custom of opening at about that hour. It bears a profusion of tubular flowers of all colors, with a jasmine-like scent.

MOONFLOWER, Ipomoea alba, mirrors the summer Moon, unfurling 6-inch trumpets along 10- to 12-foot vines in slow motion every evening at sunset. Pure white with faint green tracings, moonflower's exotic blossoms are richly fragrant with a haunting perfume. It grows best in warm, long-summer regions, because it takes 12 weeks to bloom from seed.

NIGHT PHLOX, Zaluzianskya capensis (one variety is called 'Midnight Candy'), explodes into bloom as dusk comes on, releasing a delicious almond/honey/vanilla fragrance from umbrella-like clusters of delicate purplish flowers.