These 10 Night-Blooming Flowers Make Your Garden Come Alive After Dark
These nighttime blooms emit a delightful fragrance when the sun sets.
When choosing plants for the garden, those that burst into bright, colorful blooms usually steal the spotlight. But not all flowers follow the same schedule—some actually prefer to put on their show after the sun goes down.
These nighttime bloomers add a whole new layer of interest to the garden, often filling the evening air with sweet, dreamy scents that attract pollinators like moths, beetles, bats, and even a few night-loving bees. Many of these blooms close in the sunlight. Others remain open during the day but are significantly more fragrant at night.
From familiar favorites like gardenia and mock orange to more unusual picks such as night phlox and flowering tobacco, there’s a nighttime bloomer for just about every garden style. Plant a few, and you may find yourself lingering outdoors long after sunset—because once your garden comes alive at night, it’s hard to head back inside.
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Angels Trumpet
With tubular, trumpet-shaped downward-facing flowers, Angels Trumpet (Brugmansia suaveolen) can reach up to 30 feet in their native habitat, which includes mountainous regions in South America. Some varieties, such as Brugmansia ‘Cypress Gardens,’ grow well in containers where they grow between 4 to 15 feet tall. Blooms emit a strong fragrance that is more notable at night. The flowers are most fully open at night, too.
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 7b to 10b
- Size: 4 to 15 feet tall, 3 to 10 feet wide
- Sunlight: Full sun to Partial sun
- Soil: Moist, well-draining soil
Night phlox
A native flower to South Africa, Night phlox (Zaluzianskya ovata) looks similar to small daisies, but with more pronounced petals. At sun set, night phlox emits a sweet scent reminiscent of honey.
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 9 to 10
- Size: up to 12 inches tall, 2 to 3 feet white
- Sunlight: Full sun
- Soil: Moist, well-draining
Evening Primrose
Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) starts to open when the sun sets, showing off bright yellow petals. Flowers bloom from the spring to the end of summer.
- USDA Hardiness zones: 4 to 9
- Size: 3 to 5 feet tall, 2 to 3 feet wide
- Sunlight: Full sun
- Soil: Well-draining
Flowering Tobacco
Want to attract more nighttime pollinators to your garden? Plant Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris). The tubular-shaped white to cream-hued flowers produce a sweet scent similar to Jasmine that intensifies in the evenings to entice sphinx moths. Hummingbirds and butterflies pollinate this plant during the day.
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 10 to 11b
- Size: 3 to 5 feet tall, 1 to 2 feet wide
- Sunlight: Full to partial sun
Four o’clock Alba
Four o’clock Alba (Mirabilis jalapa) gets its moniker for the time when the flower typically begins to open—in the late afternoon. Large, white, or multi-hued flowers, depending on the variety, stay open during the night and produce a citrus fragrance that permeates the air.
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 7 to 10
- Size: 2 to 4 feet tall, 1 to 3 feet wide
- Sunlight: Full sun
- Soil: Well-draining
Moonflower
Moonflowers (Ipomoea alba) have white flowers that open and bloom at night. Moonflower is a sister plant to the purplish, blue morning glory.
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9
- Size: 1 to 3 feet tall, 1 to 4 feet wide
- Sunlight: Full sun; moist
- Soil: Well-draining
Gardenia
When you see white flowers set against the contrast of waxy, dark green leaves and a fragrant scent, you know it’s a gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides). Gardenias produce a stronger scent at night, helping to attract pollinators, such as moths.
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 7 to 11
- Size: 3 to 5 feet tall, 3 to 6 feet wide
- Sunlight: Full to partial sun
- Soil: Moist, well-draining
Mock Orange
Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius) gets its name because the small white flowers produce a scent that smells like orange blossoms. It also goes by the names Fragrant Mock Orange and Sweet Mock Orange. Some varieties are more fragrant than others and the flowers typically smell stronger when the sun sets.
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 8
- Size: 10 to 12 feet tall, 10 to 12 feet wide
- Sunlight: Full to partial sun
- Soil: Moist, well-draining soil
Night-Blooming Jasmine
Also called Lady of the Night, Night-blooming jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum) is an evergreen tropical shrub that blooms after dark and emits a tropical scent. Its name is a misnomer—true jasmines are those in the Jasminum genus, but the common name “jasmine” applies to several plant families. Night-blooming jasmine is actually part of the nightshade family, along with tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 9 to 11
- Size: 8 to 10 feet tall, to 3 feet wide
- Sunlight: Full sun
- Soil: Moist
Queen of the Night Cactus
A tall, column-shaped cactus native to South America goes by many names, including Queen of the Night cactus, Hedge cactus, and Night-blooming Cereus (Cereus hildmannianus). Flowers open at night and produce a sweet scent that attracts nighttime pollinators, such as bats and moths.
- USDA Hardiness Zones: 9 to 11
- Size: 4 to 30 feet tall, up to 10 feet wide
- Sunlight: Full sun
- Soil: Light, well-draining cactus mix soil
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