Plants that scent the garden when night falls

On hot days, sunset and night bring the beneficial effect of falling temperatures. Sitting on a park bench or on the balcony at home offers a different perspective of the garden areas. Taller species will silhouette against the twilight sky, and following their outline with your eyes, as if tracing their shape, is an act of reverence, a connection with the plants. Likewise, the stillness of those hours will add a slowing sensation to the day’s fast pace.

Certain fragrances appear when the sun drops below the horizon, as is the case with all the plants that delight the nocturnal pollinators. One of the most prized is the night-blooming jessamine, whose personal charm changes over the course of hours: while the sun shines, it is a somewhat nondescript plant, with fresh green, lance-shaped leaves that do not stand out for any particular trait. It will then seem an ordinary shrub, one that in a nursery would never be chosen first for its aesthetics. But when darkness falls, the ugly duckling becomes a swan.

At dusk, its discreet little flowers exhale one of the most captivating essences, one with a hypnotic touch. Its perfume belongs to another world, perhaps that of dreams, and growing a night-blooming jessamine at home guarantees a smile when you smell it. Its scientific name, Cestrum nocturnum, refers to the period in which it emits its sweet, potent, slightly animal aroma with hints of jasmine and gardenia. If placed in a strategic spot, all this beauty of its scent will slip into rooms on the night breeze like a natural air freshener.

Night-blooming jessamine can be grown in a large pot and is perfect for a terrace corner, protected from the harsher winters, since it is sensitive to severe frosts. However, if the location is suitable and the specimen hardened and acclimated, it can withstand lower temperatures, especially if its roots are planted in ground or if it grows in a pot sheltered by neighboring containers.

Because it is a very vigorous shrub, it is advisable to give it a couple of prunings a year. The first, and essential one, is when the risk of frost has passed and before new growth begins. For this, shorten all its branches by between one-third and one-half of their length to control growth and rejuvenate the plant’s base with new shoots. The second pruning, optional, can be done when those new twigs reach about 10 centimeters in length: that is when they are pinched back to encourage further branching and, consequently, a shorter final height when the plant is fully grown. It is enough to remove one centimeter from each twig to eliminate the terminal or apical bud —from the apex— and thus activate the growth of lateral buds.

As a member of the nightshade family, a cousin of tobacco, tomato and petunia, it shares with them a love of the sun, although it can live with few hours of direct rays. In areas with low humidity it prefers sun that hits it in the morning or at dusk, because otherwise its leaves can darken and turn brown.

In the warmer gardens other night-fragrant species also grow, such as angel’s trumpet or datura (Brugmansia cv.). Their enormous pendulous flowers emit a slightly narcotic, sweet scent intended to enchant their nocturnal insect pollinators. Joining this festival of night scents are jasmines (Jasminum spp.), gardenias (Gardenia jasminoides cv.) and carissas (Carissa macrocarpa).

Another gift the night gives to gardens is the Moon, which in its brightest phases enhances the glow of species with whitish leaves or flowers. Several of the plants already mentioned, such as gardenias, seem to shine when touched by moonlight, as do jasmines, their little stars caught among the branches. The leaves of the cineraria (Jacobaea maritima), with their ash-gray tone, are also favored by luminous nights, as is the dusty miller (Cerastium tomentosum), which looks like a tongue of that precious metal.

Night and its moon in the garden are not synonyms of uncertainty or darkness, but rather of hope in beautiful things. And if you do not have as many as you wish, they need not be sought in material things —better in the simple and living ones.

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