Moonshadow Gardens

Moonshadow Gardens is an eclectic place, with a wide range of cultivars from the very earliest (APRICOT, Yeld, 1892) to plants registered in 2009. We grow species, spiders, bagels, unusual forms, and some doubles, in the whole range of daylily colors. Our bloom season usually starts in April, with early seedlings and such early bloomers as TANGERINE, ELFIN, GOLD DUST, and others from the first hybridizers. Bloom reaches its peak in mid-June and maintains it until mid-July. Some of the late bloomers don't even start until late July and August, so the season runs (with less intensity) into September, with late rebloom often extending until the first hard freezes in November. We often see bloom during eight months of the year.

This is a hybridizing garden also. Our recent emphasis has been on tall scapes, mainly but not exclusively diploid. My tallest intro to date is SENTRY (Ware 2003) at 70" (sometimes 75") with a 6" bright yellow bloom with red eye; I can see it from the street corner 300 feet away. It is an offspring of my lush pink cultivar BARBARA JEAN McDONALD by AUTUMN MINARET (Stout). I have numerous seedlings in the 50" to 75" range; we wait to see how they perform. Among my shorter intros, two of the best performers have been LYDIA WICKHAM and NETHERFIELD from my Pride and Prejudice series; both are rebloomers and striking blooms. Also good has been IRMA TOWE, a 1995 intro, spider variant, that showed well at the 2006 Long Island national convention. Three new 2009 intros are JOHN HENRY REEVES, prolific black red; RURAL CHARM, a robust red-orange-pink blend; and RURAL NIGHTLIGHT, tall willowy delicate pink reverse bitone with raspberry eye, and a true nocturnal. I like them all . . .

All plants are in limited supply. Display plants are not for sale, but may be in the near future; it can't hurt to ask. Abbreviations are E early, EM early midseason, M midseason, ML late midseason, L late, RE rebloom (marked Y in the column), FR fragrant (likewise), t tetraploid, EV evergreen, S-EV semi-evergreen, DOR dormant, SZ size, FOL foliage, SPD spider, VA variant (no longer in official use in the AHS), DSP display. Remarks are given sparingly. Prices are for double fans or more when possible. No size is given for most flowers registered before 1964. I normally ship in April and in early fall, weather permitting.