Active discussions

Help end medical misogyny. Sign our petition.

Help end medical misogyny.
Sign our petition.

Sign the petition

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

The night smells so great

82 replies

WallaceinAnderland · 26/05/2026 23:45

I love it. I'm a night owl and I don't like the sun but, my god, the night right now is gorgeous. It's warm enough to sit out in a t shirt and every flower and bush in my garden is giving off fragrance.

I don't know if it's the time of year or the heat but it's absolutely glorious tonight. I love moon bathing 🌙🌸

Anyone else?

OP posts:
Gardeningsideeffects · 27/05/2026 15:49

That's a lovely thought! We have bats in the house and nearby and every now and then one comes into the house. ♥️

EmeraldRoulette · 27/05/2026 18:10

canuckup · 27/05/2026 02:42

Same here

Lilac and lily of the valley

Oh, this sounds amazing

I want to come and visit everybody with flowery gardens

How do I bribe you for an invitation? I will make cocktails all night. Quietly. 😂

I am a night person but I have not had the opportunity to go in a proper garden at night - gosh I'm thinking about it now - for years and years now. Unfortunately, whenever I ask my (few) friends, mostly flat dwellers, if they would go for a walk at night, they just think I'm completely mad

It's a real shame because we've got some lovely woods locally where I'm sure I'd be able to hear owls and bats - but I absolutely cannot get anyone to come with me. I know I'm missing out but it's just too risky to do on my own.

I consider 3amor 4 am to be the middle of the night - I can't get my head around someone saying they're an early person and they're up at 4 am but yeah I suppose that is what it is if you're going to bed at nine?

This is really making me wish I had a house and garden.

The things I thought I would have when I was 20! I was expecting a mansion and a massive garden!

AddictedToBooks · 27/05/2026 18:18

WallaceinAnderland · 26/05/2026 23:45

I love it. I'm a night owl and I don't like the sun but, my god, the night right now is gorgeous. It's warm enough to sit out in a t shirt and every flower and bush in my garden is giving off fragrance.

I don't know if it's the time of year or the heat but it's absolutely glorious tonight. I love moon bathing 🌙🌸

Anyone else?

Sounds beautiful.
I live in a lovely quite area close to lots of open land and always have my bedroom window open so often get smells and also sounds of "faraway" traffic etc and it sends me to sleep but the other night, I actually heard the male cuckoos calling and it was gorgeous - especially as I've worked really hard to turn my old drive into a flourishing garden with trees, roses, lavender, other flowers and hedgerows to attract wildlife.

Original poster
WallaceinAnderland · 27/05/2026 18:27

@EmeraldRoulette go camping!

There are lots of adult only sites that are small and quiet, some of them will include woodland but you might prefer to pitch on the edge of woodland for comfort and warmth (and also less scary once the foxes and hedgehogs start screeching 😂)

OP posts:
Squirrelsnut · 27/05/2026 18:32

What a lovely thread! I have some night scented stock seeds in my bag and it's inspired me to plant them tomorrow. I will sit outside tonight and look out for Mrs Tiggywinkle.

upinaballoon · 27/05/2026 19:25

The mock orange has been in flower for several days. Delicious smell.
A novelist, Susan Who?, wrote a little book about gardens. She said that if you can't sleep on a summer night, slip out of the door and walk barefoot on the lawn. I did it when I was younger.

EmeraldRoulette · 27/05/2026 20:43

@WallaceinAnderland I wouldn't feel safe doing that on my own.

I'm very far from being a retiring wallflower type - you know you get these types on here who don't go out after dark on their own - that isn't me

I've been single most of my adult life - it's not great being forced to do a lot of stuff on your own but I've done it.

However, no security at all between me and the outside world on my own? No. And staying in a tent on my own, no. Who else on the campsite is going to care if I get attacked? Probably if you are attacked, it will be someone else on the camp site who does it? Sorry if that sounds extreme. I have enough experience of staying in hotels on my own to know what this is like.

And then in order to wander off into a nice place, where you're likely to see those things, you've got to leave the campsite anyway. So it isn't any different than having a walk in the woods at night on your own.

i'd love to hear all the noises of the wildlife life. If there was a group organised walk at night time in my local woods, I'd go on that

Honestly, I have spent years trying to persuade someone to come with me and nobody will come!

I went on a walk to see bats once - it was absolutely brilliant - that was about 8 pm I think. Fine in a group.

actually, if I was still able to drive then I would drive out to the woods and give it a go maybe? But now you've got to add "get taxi home from local wood" - no. (don't get me started on nighttime taxi drivers, I have a lot of knowledge here and trust me, they are very dodgy these days)

I wonder if there are any hotels with amazing nighttime gardens.

EmeraldRoulette · 27/05/2026 20:46

upinaballoon · 27/05/2026 19:25

The mock orange has been in flower for several days. Delicious smell.
A novelist, Susan Who?, wrote a little book about gardens. She said that if you can't sleep on a summer night, slip out of the door and walk barefoot on the lawn. I did it when I was younger.

Yes! If mum dies before me, I'm going to plant her garden with lots of lovely things and go out in it at night.

She gets very upset if anyone goes in the garden at night. don't ask.

Sorry, I promise not to drop any more depressing comments on your lovely thread! Just trying to show that I really haven't got options at the moment.

TheChosenTwo · 27/05/2026 20:49

I like watering my garden at about 11pm, everyone in the house has drifted off to their rooms and dh is usually in bed, I love the peace and the solace. We just have a grass lawn and her beds so no floral smells as such but it was a bit cooler. I don’t want to sit down because spiders come out at night 😂 but standing with the hose is lovely, and occasionally splashing my feet!

aterriblefish · 27/05/2026 20:56

@Squirrelsnut Night scented stock is the best - I forgot to plant any this year. Perhaps I will get some too. I love the garden at night. I have a small but heavily gardened garden - a private kingdom of roses and herbs.

Original poster
WallaceinAnderland · 27/05/2026 21:29

EmeraldRoulette · 27/05/2026 20:43

@WallaceinAnderland I wouldn't feel safe doing that on my own.

I'm very far from being a retiring wallflower type - you know you get these types on here who don't go out after dark on their own - that isn't me

I've been single most of my adult life - it's not great being forced to do a lot of stuff on your own but I've done it.

However, no security at all between me and the outside world on my own? No. And staying in a tent on my own, no. Who else on the campsite is going to care if I get attacked? Probably if you are attacked, it will be someone else on the camp site who does it? Sorry if that sounds extreme. I have enough experience of staying in hotels on my own to know what this is like.

And then in order to wander off into a nice place, where you're likely to see those things, you've got to leave the campsite anyway. So it isn't any different than having a walk in the woods at night on your own.

i'd love to hear all the noises of the wildlife life. If there was a group organised walk at night time in my local woods, I'd go on that

Honestly, I have spent years trying to persuade someone to come with me and nobody will come!

I went on a walk to see bats once - it was absolutely brilliant - that was about 8 pm I think. Fine in a group.

actually, if I was still able to drive then I would drive out to the woods and give it a go maybe? But now you've got to add "get taxi home from local wood" - no. (don't get me started on nighttime taxi drivers, I have a lot of knowledge here and trust me, they are very dodgy these days)

I wonder if there are any hotels with amazing nighttime gardens.

Edited

Or maybe you could rent a holiday cottage for a couple of nights, with it's own private garden?

OP posts:
EmeraldRoulette · 27/05/2026 21:38

@WallaceinAnderland I wonder if they get anyone asking "does your garden smell nice? Did you plant night scented stocks? I'm not booking otherwise" 😂

Original poster
WallaceinAnderland · 27/05/2026 21:52

EmeraldRoulette · 27/05/2026 21:38

@WallaceinAnderland I wonder if they get anyone asking "does your garden smell nice? Did you plant night scented stocks? I'm not booking otherwise" 😂

We need it as a booking filter 😂

OP posts:
backinthebox · 27/05/2026 21:53

I’m having a beer on my decking right now. I planted a fabulous honeysuckle last year and it smells amazing. I can hear a nightjar in the distance and there are bats whizzing around. The moon looks fab too. I love the night. I work night shifts in the furthest flung places you can imagine. I do night orienteering in the winter too - something especially magical about being on your own in a forest in the dark when the trees are creaking and there’s a frost forming. I’m a proper nighttime fan.

RedRosie · 27/05/2026 21:53

Even in urban central London, it smells good tonight.

EmeraldRoulette · 27/05/2026 21:58

@backinthebox nighttime orienteering sounds brilliant (i'm not good at the cold though)

Do you go alone? Am I being a wuss?

tsmainsqueeze · 27/05/2026 22:12

I love this thread !
some beautifully written descriptions of the dark and nature.
I love the scents of a night garden too, my honeysuckle which i thought was a goner has come back with a vengeance this year and smells divine .
I love sitting on my bench in the dark on a summers night just taking it all in and in such peace.

Pieceofpurplesky · 27/05/2026 22:39

I've just been sat out. It's so peaceful. I am not well at the moment and it's my sanctuary. There were loads of geese chattering as they flew over tonight. I could smell the herbs as DS had watered and there was a faint curry plant smell! It was like being in a kitchen garden. Thunder is starting to roll in now and whilst I love a storm I have returned in.

IsthataNo · 27/05/2026 22:45

Beautiful thread op I can sit outside for hours listening to and watching ten swifts and beetles and bats buzzing around.

Our honeysuckle isn't out yet though.

This thread has reminded me to plant some stock however when I've tried in the past it hasn't worked doe some reason.

ShutUpJennie · 27/05/2026 22:47

I’m late to this thread (a lovely thread!) but my hawthorn which is in flower now smells soapy; it’s a very distinctive scent

My honeysuckle is almost finished but has been amazing, and philadelphus is going to be hot on its heels. Then I’ll look forward to the smell of warm tomato leaves in my raised beds. I love it all so much

EmeraldRoulette · 27/05/2026 22:55

@Pieceofpurplesky sorry to hear you've not been well

The smell of a storm is always great though!

now I'm thinking of petrichor... not flowery but wonderful.

backinthebox · 27/05/2026 23:43

EmeraldRoulette · 27/05/2026 21:58

@backinthebox nighttime orienteering sounds brilliant (i'm not good at the cold though)

Do you go alone? Am I being a wuss?

I go alone. But there are usually lots of other people all running around in the woods, so you are never far from another person. It’s a lot of fun.

I do another event once a year, can’t give more details because it would be outing. But it is a nighttime adventure of epic levels, and each participant is entirely alone in the wild for 2 nights surviving on their wits. My friends I do it with and I have an unhealthy obsession with head torches and being out in the dark on our own! I love it - we rely a lot on sight, but at night all your other senses are heightened.

Lemondrizzlesquash7 · 27/05/2026 23:56

I’m lying in bed with my window wide open, right outside my window is honeysuckle it smells divine

longtompot · Yesterday 00:01

I still remember last summer sitting out in my garden late night and wondering what an amazing scent was, and it was some night scented stock I had sown and planted. It was just gorgeous

Pieceofpurplesky · Yesterday 00:24

Thanks @EmeraldRouletteI think petrichor is one of the best smells on the planet! It's pouring here and the thunder is getting closer - the smell through my bedroom window is amazing