One of my favorite parts of spring is when the moonflowers start to bloom. I always make my way out to the garden in the evening or early morning to see the blossoms as they close during the day.
One can see when I flower is about to open as it is emerging from the green sheeth below. It folds back up to this position during the day and will reopen for a couple nights. And in the late evening, all night, and early morning the flower opens. These are large blooms about 4" across and the brilliant white at night attacts moths and other nighttime pollenators. Without the pistil and stigma inthe middle, the flower could almost pass for a sand dollar with the various marking and veins. Currently the plant is only putting out a flower every few days, but as it is a large established bush that survived the winter, within a few weeks it will be putting on as many as forty blooms a night, creating a canopy of white covering the entire bush.
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