Moonflowers

Several years ago I noticed a plant with spectacular white flowers while walking to the boardwalk at night in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. The next morning I looked for the flowers again but could not find them.  This seemed very strange to me until I learned that they were moonflowers which bloomed only at night--and only for one night.

 Since then I have tried to grow my own moonflower plants with greater or lesser success.  I learned that one has to start with seeds because seedlings don't seem to be available around here.  This year many of my seeds germinated.  I was able to give plants away to friends.

 The three seeds I planted have done better than ever before.  Maybe it's the compost I have used.  Or maybe just good luck!  I planted two seeds under the mailbox and they are threatening to block our mail.  I planted just one seed by the garage and bought a trellis for the vine to climb.  The plant got so large that the trellis fell over.

Last night I counted 13 large white blossoms on each plant.  I went out to take a photo this morning and it was too late.  They were already curling in on themselves.  I will pluck them off later.

Once the first blossom appeared--and you have to wait until late August-- I posted a photo on Facebook.  A friend posted a recommendation of a favorite book  The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton.  The book was out of print but I got a used copy from Better World Books.

 What an absolutely lovely book!  It's the story of a family in Missouri around the turn of the century.  However it begins in the 1950s with the daughters of the family coming home for their annual two week stay with their elderly parents.  The first chapter is a happy and almost sentimental account.  So it is not a spoiler to say the book has a happy ending but as you go through the rest of the sections, each one featuring another member of the family, you see that there were times of rebellion, lust, alienation, anger and a tragic death.

The moonflower is definitely a theme in the book as the family hurries to get home to see it bloom at sunset.

"She looked around at the good thing she was granted-green fields, good pasture, shining weather. The air was fresh, the birds sang, and she had seen a white heron. Matthew was waiting for her. The children were coming home. And they would watch the moonflowers bloom. Oh, if she never got to heaven, this was enough..."