Shadows Lengthen & Darkness Falls: Illuminate Autumn’s Velvety Nights…

Simple Tin Buckets filled with Sand and Tea Lights Line the Stone Steps at Ferncliff

Twilight in the garden: dusky violet skies and long shadows brush the horizon. Night falls, and the silhouettes of flowers and feathery foliage sway dramatically in the fading light. This is my favorite time to walk through the garden, watching as evening’s dark beauty unfolds. Wrapping myself in a sweater, I stroll the dimming paths; stopping to sample the sweet perfume of fairy candles and to admire the unfurling datura beside the Secret Garden door. Barred owl, coyote, moth and bat; I listen and watch as creatures of the night cackle, cry and flutter in the gathering gloom. Finally, it’s time to settle in to my front row seat on the terrace —candles lit on the stone steps— to enjoy nature’s evening show…

Quick, Inexpensive and Lovely. Tin Buckets filled with Tiny, Twinkling Tea Lights (Set of 12 Galvanized Tin Buckets – $18.99 at Amazon)

 

Tiny Tin Lanterns Glow in the Twilight…

Luminous candles, tiny twinkling string-lights and subtle, automatic landscape lighting all add to the beautiful, evening ambience in my garden. When I’m expecting company, or if a romantic mood strikes me, I use tea lights to illuminate inexpensive, sand-filled tin buckets on my stone steps and walkway at night. Perfect for a wedding or party, these impromptu tin lanterns can be used over and over in the garden all season long.

Glass hurricanes, candelabras, iron chandeliers, hanging lanterns, string lights and solar globes can all add subtle light to the nighttime garden with a minimum investment of time and money. This week, I collected a few lovely lanterns and lights, with price points under $100, to share with you here (see images and links below). For more mood-lighting ideas, check back on previous posts by clicking here.

Landscape lighting —particularly in private residences— is an oft-neglected aspect of garden design, and as the daylight hours decrease in autumn, it becomes ever-more important. Not only is garden lighting beautiful, but it’s also a serious safety consideration when navigating stairs and pathways at night. Although I enjoy candlelight, solar lanterns and sparkly string lights, my garden is also hard-wired with low-voltage Malibu landscape lighting —set to a seasonally adjusted timer— and remote-controlled task lighting (floods and spots set up for everyday chores like unloading the car at night). I will be covering more on do-it-yourself, hard-wired lighting features in part-two of this post later on this week. For now, have a look at some of these inspiring ideas. Pick up some inexpensive lights, or make your own lanterns as described above or in this post here.

Terrain Hanging Garden Lantern ($35 – holds a pillar candle or tea light)

Terrain String of Pear Lights ($34 – ten lights per string)

Terrain String of Pear Lights (detail. $34 – ten lights per string)

Terrain Zinc Candelabra ($58 – holds three candles)

San Simeon Lantern from H. Potter ($100 – Copper finish on stainless steel w/brass accent)

Terrain Wood and Glass Lantern ($88 – 20″x 12″ x 7″)

 

 

***

Article and photos (excepting product links as noted) are â“’ Michaela at TGE

All content on this site, (with noted exceptions), is the property of The Gardener’s Eden and may not be used or reproduced without prior written consent. Inspired by something you see here? Great! Please give credit where credit is due. It’s a small world and link-love makes for fond friendships. Stealing makes for bad dreams…

Do you enjoy visiting The Gardener’s Eden? You can help support this site by shopping through our affiliate links. Advertisers do not pay for editorial placement here, but do remit a small percentage of any sale originating from The Gardener’s Eden affiliate links. All proceeds will go toward web hosting and maintenance costs. Thank you for your support!

VivaTerra - Eco Living With Style

shopterrain.com

Gardener's Supply Company

One Reply to “Shadows Lengthen & Darkness Falls: Illuminate Autumn’s Velvety Nights…”

Comments are closed.