The silver bloom of night: How to create your own moonlight garden

When he became emperor in the 1520s, Babur was homesick for the musk melons, grapes and pomegranates of Ferghana and disappointed by much of what he found in dusty Hindustan, especially the absence of stylised paradise gardens. So passionate was the emperor about planned gardens that he was known as the Prince of Gardeners: his geometric gardens in Kabul and Agra were built in the char bagh tradition, with the angular symmetry of four quadrants dissected with running streams and a central point of focus to enhance the feeling of a retreat into a calm and meditative space.

According to Constance Villiers Stuart, a pioneer on the subject of Mughal gardens and author of Gardens of the Great Mughals, while the Mughals enjoyed their gardens as a liveable space, a transition between a tent and a pavilion, it is from the local subjects over whom they ruled that they learned to enjoy gardens after dusk.

The Rajputs – princesses in particular – are supposed to have introduced the Mughals to chiefly white flora from the palace gardens of Rajasthan, along with platforms, ramparts and pathways in white marble or plaster that glowed in moonlight and miniature paintings with white flowers.

Even after the Mughals, in the summer months most Indians venture out to socialise or romance only after the fierce heat of the day had abated and cooler breezes could be enjoyed. Thus flowers that turn luminous in the light of the moon perfuming the night breeze were chosen for their cooling, amorous character.

Having just introduced a Mehtab or moonlight-inspired corner in my own garden, I realised that several working couples – modern day lovers perhaps – entertain mostly at night. Those with the space, even a large balcony or terrace, can adapt certain features to create a romantic moonlight garden of their own.

Moynihan and Moonlit gardens

It was Elizabeth Moynihan’s charming book The Moonlight Garden that first propelled me to read voraciously on the subject. Moynihan was the wife of the American ambassador to India in the seventies, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and a scholar of architectural history. She is known to have been enthralled by Babur and in fact celebrated the Emperor’s fifth centenary with a grand birthday party for him at one of his riverbank gardens in Agra, where her husband famously raised a toast to “the other man in Elizabeth’s life, Babur”.

Moynihan tracked down and excavated long forgotten stone creations constructed by the Emperor, after reading his memoir Baburnama, such as the stunning rock-cut lotus shaped pool at Dholpur. She was involved in unearthing the ruins of Babur’s original garden under additions made by Shah Jahan, on a site across the river from the Taj Mahal.

These were actually remnants of the Mehtab Bagh, or Shah Jahan’s Moonlight Garden. A stunning octagonal reflecting pool constructed by Shah Jahan lay across the river from the Taj, which would perfectly capture the mirror image of the mausoleum on a full moon night. The pool had been submerged in silt by the flooding of the Jamuna and only rediscovered in the 1990s. It is being restored at present to its former glory, and the original flora will be reproduced as far as possible by examining excavated fragments of plants under a microscope, to match the exact species planted by the Mughals.

Lutyens nocturnals

Chameli, Maulsri, Kamini, Keya, Shefali, Chandini, Malati, Mahua, Champa, Nargis, Hina and Yasmin are just some of the vernacular names of fragrant white flowers that can be used in a Mehtab bagh. Fruit and deep red flowers such as as pomegranates and velvety cocks comb were also planted to glow near fire-pits in winter, and can be used to add a dramatic flair for modern day bonfires and barbecues. Other favourite night blooms are Raat ki Rani, Moonflower or the Ipomea Alba, some varieties of water lilies, evening primrose and Brahma Kamal – the last two flower only in temperate climate.

Villiers-Stuart included a long chapter on moonlight gardens in her book on the Mughals and soon after it was published, all-white gardens became very fashionable in England.

The book also influenced Edwin Landseer Lutyens’ design of the Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. British horticulturalist Gertrude Jekyll was Lutyens’ chief advisor in garden-planning and collaborated with him on more than 400 gardens. The pergola walk and the sunken garden were part of Jekyll’s signature style. She also created the white garden at Barrington Court, a Tudor Manor house in Somerset, England, scented with white roses, peonies, lilies and lacy gypsophila.

Over the years, the Mughal Gardens have undergone some gaudy changes. Two years ago, I was invited for an interview by the Rashtrapati Bhawan to write a book on the gardens. I naively imagined I would be able to would contribute to reversing the garish additions made by the Central Public Works Department, like the machine-made bright blue swimming pool tiles in the lotus fountain garden, or the inelegant planting in the circular sunken garden. I was determined to bring the moonlight garden back to its Indian roots. However it soon became obvious that the bureaucrats in the President’s Secretariat and the media department of Rashtrapati Bhawan only wanted a long paean of praise. I refused the assignment.

To make your own Mehtab Garden

Choose an elegant, cool corner to plant your luminous pale flowers with a sweet fragrance. A small water feature can serve as a focal point of the terrace, or to reflect the moon – mirrored garden accessories with a skilful use of candles can add to the glimmering light and shadow, suggesting fireflies, long extinct in most urban gardens today. White seating and lamps will heighten the experience.

Appropriate white plants are suggested in the tables below and listed in vernacular – most are easy to grow and available in any good nursery. The reader will be spoilt for choice by the varieties of jasmine and plumeria available. Do use terracotta pots between 12 to 14 inches wide, or cement tubs with a 24 inch diameter for shrubs. Creepers do better in the ground, and can be trained onto arched supports like at the garden at Sissinghurst. For seasonal flowers, select alba, or white varieties.

Selina Sen is the author of Gardening in Urban India, published by DK Random House.