Night Blooming Flowers

—Jeni Casinelli, Education and Program Coordinator

A night-blooming moonflower in the RNC vegetable garden, beginning to close as the sun rises.

As I sit and drink my morning coffee, I admire the beautiful morning glories that are in full bloom. While I have seen morning glories many of times, I have never really thought about why they only bloom in the morning or why moonflowers, a close relative to the morning glory, only bloom at night?

The answer is quite interesting, flowers including moonflowers and morning glories have adapted to bloom only when their pollinators are active. Moonflowers are pollinated by night flying moths. These moths are attracted to the white moonflower that die each morning as the sun rises. New flowers will bloom the following evening and this cycle will continue throughout the summer until all the buds have bloomed.

Morning glory flower

Photo: edenbrothers.com

Morning glories on the other hand bloom early in the day and will close by afternoon. These flowers are pollinated by daytime pollinators including bees, hummingbirds and other insects. These flowers will close each afternoon, however, each flower will only last a few days in total. Unlike the moonflower, morning glories will change from reddish to blueish as the age over a few days. These too will continue to last throughout the summer as each plant produces many buds.

Morning glories and moonflowers are just a few of the flowers that will open and close throughout the day. There are many other species that follow in their footsteps including four o'clock flowers, evening primrose, northern catchfly and Dutchman's pipe. It is both moments in nature and understanding how the why these adaptations occur that remind me how amazing the world around us truly is.