Moonlight and Roses

Exterior Lighting Tips: Your prize Floribunda Tropicana rose bushes are the envy of the subdivision but you want them to get more exposure. You wish you could show them off at night with a romantic moonlight effect. You can!

While you're moonlighting as a gardener, you might not have time in-between comparing different rose food brands to think about exterior lighting. Two words that will make you abandon your American Beauty roses: Cross lighting. Placing two or more uplights around that rose bush, and the Greek statue next to it, reveals the beauty of rose petals and laurel leaves. This is known as cross lighting.

If your rose bushes are beneath a large spreading tree, you can combine cross lighting with outdoor light downlighting by hanging soft outdoor lighting fixtures such as frosted lanterns in tree branches. This gives the illusion of moonlight on a moonless night with an attractive combination of light and shadows. With such beautiful exterior lighting design techniques, everyone will want to stop and smell the roses...even you!