Eons ago, moths quit the daytime and found it safer to chase flowers after dark. Though they're often overlooked due to the bright and colorful butterfly, these muted insects lost in the shadows may have far more smarts: They feed when their predators, the birds, are sleeping.

            Moths go unnoticed in wildlife gardens because we’re indoors when they're out and about. But if you've ever been blessed with seeing a giant hummingbird moth in a Brunfelsia or the yucca moth flitting amidst the night blooming candles of blooms, you'll discover just how unique these insects can be.

There are a whole group of plants, many of them nightshades, that are pollinated by moths. You can zero-in on moth-pollinated plants by checking out their common names, which often contain words that refer to a time of day, such as evening primrose and morning glories.

            Another tip when looking for moth-attracting plants is to check the unique qualities of the flowers. Good blooms lure moth pollinators with their form, scent and color. Deep, tubular flowers are perfectly adapted to the moth's long tongue that can reach nectaries hidden deep inside the blossoms.

            "Like a moth to a flame" is an old saying about things that inextricably lure us. Such is the case with many white, cream and lemon yellow flowers that attract moths with color. They are the very last to fade at dusk. They may even become luminescent by reflecting moonlight just like reflectors on your bicycle come alive under headlights. This is nature's way of luring moths to the flowers for pollination. Grow them in your garden, and the moths will come.

            Moth-pollinated flowers can be far more heavily scented than many daytime blooms, too. They need to lure the pollinator from a long way off in this murky nocturnal world of limited visibility. Some moth flowers can smell rather musky or sweet, advertising a nectar reward deep inside the flower.

            The tongue of the hawk moth (Manduca rustica) can be up to 4 inches long. It is uniquely adapted to feeding on datura, a wayside weed of the west that bears white, 6-inch trumpet flowers. Moths hover or sit upon the flowers as they send their proboscus deep inside just like a hummingbird.

            For those who love to spend summer evenings in the garden, you don't have to say goodbye to wildlife at sunset. Plant moth-luring flowers to not only increase the night garden's beauty and fragrance, but to ensure plenty of activity. If you don't spend much evening time outdoors, plant these flowers close to windows so you can still enjoy what they have to offer from inside your house.

            Extend your wildlife garden with the “children of the night,” and consider some of these beautiful moth-pollinated flowers:

Evening Primrose. The genus Oenothera includes many North American native wildflowers well-recognized by moth species in your region.

Brunfelsia. Known in Victorian times as yesterday, today and tomorrow due to its dark, medium and light purple flowers, this highly fragrant tropical is coveted at dusk by hummingbird moths.

Yucca. A group of New World plants with great spires of white flowers that maintain the most famous moth-pollination relationship in the natural world.

Heliotrope. With a scent compared to that of cloves or fresh cookies, these unique old-fashioned bedding plants are famous moth and butterfly lures.

Four o’clocks. Known botanically as Mirabilis jalapa, this Peruvian native opens around 4 in the afternoon to entice nighttime pollinators.

Nicotiana. A nightshade and its tobacco cousins are richly perfumed to lure nocturnal pollinators with a wide array of hybrid colors.

            All of these are nectar plants that feed the adult moth. Just remember that these insects experience metamorphosis: They hatch out of eggs as hungry caterpillar larvae that feed on plants, many of them our most vexing agricultural pests. I discovered this the hard way when the hawkmoths lured by my tropical angel’s trumpet laid eggs among its leaves. To my surprise, finger-sized larvae ate the entire plant just a few weeks later.

            Fortunately not all moths lay eggs.  Should you have these unwelcome hatchlings that spend their days hiding on the back of the leaves, simply pick them off by hand or with tweezers and dispose of them.  You'll know they've arrived  with the first sign of shredded leaves. 

Color, texture, paint, paper, paintings, vases, sculptures and objects d'art are all so familiar to us. Maybe it's because Mom shared her love of homemaking with us, so we're literally raised in that milieu. But step across that proverbial line in the sand, the doorway threshold, and you may think it's a whole new world when decorating the landscape. Au contraire.

            With 30 years of experience as a landscape designer, I pretend that line isn't there. I know that when you're indoors you look out through doors and windows into the adjacent garden spaces. This may be patio, terrace or courtyard, but no matter what you call it, this is simply a visual extension of what's going on inside. Everything you did to design and decorate the interior of your home can either clash with what's outdoors or blend seamlessly into it.

            Colors are the best way to start, and they're based on those you used indoors. Are they hot, spicy salsa or soft pastel cucumber sandwiches? Is there a paisley wallpaper or do you have stark white on white? This palette of hues is the flavor of your home – and it should come outdoors every way possible. From paint to placemats, umbrellas and even flower colors, the color palette of your interior should be picked up in your exterior.

            Style is second on the list. If you have a stylized interior, extend this décor outdoors with everything you do. For example, a sleek modern chaise can link nicely to a space-age dining room set that looks out onto the patio. Wrought iron used as accents inside a Spanish- or Mediterranean-style home can easily furnish an outdoor room. Never buy outdoor furniture without considering if it will match the look and feel of that in the adjacent room interiors.

            Details are all those personal touches that give an outdoor room its character. In the garden, pots are one of the most effective ways of dressing up spaces. Brightly painted Mexican pots are perfect for bringing interior tile accents of a Spanish home outdoors. Space-age cylinders are a perfect fit for the modern or mid-century home. If you choose something out of sync to hold your potted plants and flowers, it'll stick out like a sore thumb. You may feel it's not right, but you'll fail to know exactly why. It's easy if you consider a pot as you would a cachepot for your houseplants, because if it will work indoors, it'll double the connection outside.

            Plants are far more versatile than you may think. Plants are chameleons and will change their character with their surroundings. A few exceptions are important when specific types of plants are inextricably linked to certain decorating styles.

            Seek out the signature plants of your decorating style. If you've crafted the Santa Fe look inside, then there's no question that quaint potted cacti belong indoors and out. For the lover of Asian design, then the bonsai style of dwarf trees will serve both your interior and exterior. Those who long for American country style, traditional annuals such as sunflowers or zinnias grown in the beds around outdoor spaces can come nicely indoors as cut blooms.

            When you begin to see that threshold fade and all that you have done with your kitchen and family room and bedroom takes a step outside, that's when the magic begins. We designers have known since the beginning that when you forget that line is there, the whole will always be greater than the sum of its parts.

While looking for bulb shots for our upcoming newsletter article I came upon some really great shots of ways to use bulbs that aren't the same old massing we've seen time after time. 

I'm not sure what these are but they prove you can dress up a water garden in early spring with pots of blooming bulbs. 

This cottage garden features a rock garden at the back upon which they've planted crown imperials to stand up above all the lower spring blooms in the foreground.

This is a vintage bulb garden that shows how well these plants blend with wisteria, smart hedges and geometric topiary forms.

Combining odd gold tulips with orange red ones is not a common palette, but in spring gardens where all is cool and green they are like floral wildfires warming everything up

One of our community members, Sharon, asked what to do with her top heavy cactus.  It's a columnar type, which means it produces long, thin upright stems.  Columnar cacti branch with age or they will be encouraged to branch if the growth tip is cut off.  This example below is a very old Myrtillocactus, featuring over 50 years of growth showing how these plants naturally branch if left alone.

When these types of cacti are grown in pots, they can't develop such a large base.  It becomes even more problematic when a single stem produces multiple branches higher up making it very top heavy.  Though we don't talk much about pruning cacti, it's important to do so or two things might happen.

1.  The plant and its pot falls over and it may be irreparably damaged.

2.  The branches become so heay the main stem can no longer bear the weight and it will break in half.

The solution is to remove the largest branches and use them to start new plants.  All you need to know is to cut them at the natural joint as shown here.

Once cut let the piece sit out in the open air for a week or two so the wound becomes hard and dry.  Then insert it into a pot of coarse sand about half way up its length and place in bright shade.  You can apply rooting powder if you wish to speed the process, but they are typically eager to root.

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A friend of mine who is 65 and suffers from Lupus claims she's found a miracle drink that has given her life back.  She called it mushroom tea from the health food store sold under the trade name Synergy.  Most of these energy health drinks are made of herbal sources of caffein and are simply a big cup of coffee in fancy bottles.  But the mushroom thing sounded intriguing so I went to my horticultural library for Paul Stamets fine book, Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms. 

The bottle says the tea is known as komboucha, which is a slightly fermented drink that is aged for 30 days with a certain mushroom culture to yield a drink blended with various fruit juices to make it palateable.

When a glacier in the Italian Alps melted back enough, the Iceman was discovered in 1991, his mummified body proved to be 5,300 years old.  In his knapsack were these very same mushrooms carried on a string.  This Polyphore was used not only for treatment of wounds but the also for tinder to start fires.  But when boiled into a tea it is anti-fatiguing, immunoenhancing and considered an essential to hunters venturing into the wilderness.