Viewing post #448280 by Polymerous

You are viewing a single post made by Polymerous in the thread called Moon Gardens.
Image
Jul 11, 2013 7:11 PM CST
Name: Marilyn, aka "Poly"
South San Francisco Bay Area (Zone 9b)
"The mountains are calling..."
Region: California Daylilies Irises Vegetable Grower Moon Gardener Dog Lover
Bookworm Garden Photography Birds Pollen collector Garden Procrastinator Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Yesterday, over on the site forum, I requested a new microbadge for Moon Gardeners. Dave promptly created one, so all of us who have Moon Gardens can now proudly display our interest.

On the same forum site thread, I was asked to start a thread on Moon Gardens over in the cottage or perennial garden forums.

So, here goes a short introduction to the topic, with shots from my own small Moon Garden as illustrations. (Of necessity, the photos and discussion carry my own particular twist, which is best summarized as "Daylilies in a Moon Garden". I beg your indulgence, and that you kindly click on each picture to see everything that there is to be seen.)

What is a Moon Garden? The short answer is that it is a garden meant to be enjoyed by moonlight. Plants are chosen that visually show well by moonlight: ones that have white/cream/ivory or pale yellow colored flowers, or silver or variegated foliage. While not strictly mandatory, many people chose nocturnally blooming plants, and fragrant plants (especially plants both nocturnal AND fragrant) for their Moon Gardens.

One thing that I quickly learned when I first laid out my own garden, is that Moon Gardens are also sublimely beautiful during the pre-dawn and dusk low light transitions. Here is an image from my small Moon Garden from 2007, taken at or near dusk:

Thumb of 2013-07-11/Polymerous/deabea

The daylily is 'Newberry White Dove'; in the foreground is the dwarf Shasta Daisy 'Darling Daisy'.



The diploid daylily 'Newberry White Dove' (Rushing, 1985), seen here by daylight, blooms in June (and some years reblooms during late summer or early fall) in my Saratoga CA garden.

Another image taken at or near dusk, shows the above listed plants plus Hemerocallis 'Tuscawilla Tranquility' to the front right, and 'Beautiful Edgings' in the back. (Hemerocallis 'Egyptian Queen' can barely be seen to the far upper right; it is just outside of the Moon Garden area.)

Thumb of 2013-07-11/Polymerous/2847fb

It has been long enough ago that I cannot swear as to what the small flowered plants in the foreground were; they may have been Nemesia. (Plants come and go here; in addition to the usual reasons, we have also had (and continue to have) heavy gopher, rabbit, and deer depredations, as well as irrigation issues.) I think that if you look hard enough, you may discern Penstemon 'Holly's White' (or 'Hollywhite'; I have seen it spelled both ways), Salvia 'Navajo White', the Shasta Daisy 'Ice Star', and perhaps either (or both) of Helichrysum petiolare 'Licorice Splash' and 'Limelight'.

My Moon Garden is in a prime viewing location; it is situated right in front of the kitchen window, adjacent to the dining room patio, and can be viewed from different vantage points from along the main garden walkway. Everyone who comes into the garden sees it, so I try (to the extent that I can, given the above mentioned issues) to have it looking good in the daytime. This, to me, means no nocturnally flowering plants, which is contrary to the advice often given for Moon Gardens. As we rarely sit on the patio at night anyway (mosquitoes are an issue), I see it as no great loss to not include them in my small garden. (I did originally try a mix of diurnal and nocturnal daylilies in the Moon Garden; let's just say that the combination did not show all that well during the daytime hours. However, whether registered as such or not, at least some of the daylilies in the Moon Garden are either extended bloomers (potentially still wide open for moonlight viewing) or early morning openers (which may be at least partly open pre-dawn.))

The photo below was taken in 2010, by daylight. Foreground are the Shasta daisy 'Ice Star' and Hemerocallis 'Gadsden Icicle'; background are Penstemon 'Holly's White' (or whatever its proper name is) and a sunburnt Heuchera 'Lime Rickey'.



Finally (and I hesitated to show them, because of the noxious wire cages and brown leaves (I originally took these for myself only)), are two images from 6-24 of this year (2013). The reason I include them is to show that near-white daylilies, in comparison to true white flowering plants, can be surprisingly colorful (a fact that daylily lovers are keenly aware of, but which non-enthusiasts may not be). Next to true white flowers, near-white daylily blooms may appear pale yellow, cream, or pale melon. This, in combination with variegated or colored foliage plants, leads to a subtle but pleasing tapestry of color in the daytime viewing hours.

On the first image, the daylilies clockwise from upper left are Hemerocallis 'White Stripe' (which has the bonus of (unstably) variegated foliage), 'Sacrament of Healing', and 'Spacecoast Cream Supreme'. Also shown (clockwise from lower left) are Salvia 'Heatwave Glimmer', Heuchera ‘Crème de Menthe’, Helichrysum petiolare 'Licorice Splash', and Pelargonium 'Rocky Mountain White'. (The bit of red is from the 'Neon Purple' cultivar of the Tango (trademarked) line of Pelargonium plants. I like little bits of color on the outskirts of the Moon Garden proper.)

Thumb of 2013-07-11/Polymerous/9c978d

A slight change of angle shows the two previously mentioned Pelargoniums, Hemerocallis 'Sacrament of Healing', the variegated Helichrysum petiolare 'Licorice Splash', and the variegated Miscanthus 'Morning Light'.



As with all gardens, plants come and go or get moved, depending on how well they fare, or pair. Throughout the year, I have other plants in the Moon Garden which contribute to the show in their proper season, including bearded irises, daffodils, Dianthus, a mis-named Erica, Loropetalum 'Snow Dance', dahlias, white flowered society garlic, and assorted annuals. But to me, the height of the Moon Garden is in summer, and the near-white daylilies are the stars.

(A follow-up edit: I found some old notes on my computer, to the effect that the small flowered (non daisy) plants fronting the daylilies in the dusk images are Nemesia 'Vanilla Sachet'.)
Evaluating an iris seedling, hopefully for rebloom
Last edited by Polymerous Jul 12, 2013 5:23 PM Icon for preview

« Return to the thread "Moon Gardens"
« Return to Perennials forum
« Return to the Garden.org homepage

Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )

Today's site banner is by Zoia and is called "Volunteer"

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.