Welcome to Cats Meow Daylily Garden, based in the rural country
setting of Manchester in Carroll County, Maryland.
The Cats Meow Daylily Garden
Season: June - August
Hours: Thursday - Sunday
9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The gardens will open May 31, 2012 Thursday - Sunday, 9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. through August 26, 2012. Special events for this year will include the following : June 23, 2012 , 9:30 - 3:00, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee celebration Here Ye, Here Ye. Calling all royal subjects. The Cats Meow Daylily Garden announces the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. Her Royal Highness marks her sixty years as Britain’s longest reigning Monarch. A contest for the most royal and most outlandish English themed decorated hat will be held. Hat judging will be held at 1:00 p.m. Complimentary royal refreshments provided. July 8, 2012, 9:30 – 3:00 Halloween in July celebration Join us for a spook-tacular time in the new Halloween Daylily garden, featuring Halloween themed daylilies and garden decorations. Come in a Halloween costume and receive a 25% discount on your daylily purchase. Complimentary ghoulish treats will be offered. August 19, 2012, 9:30 - 3:00 In The Garden With Jane Austin Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Emma, Sense and Sensibility – which is your favorite? Spend a relaxing day in the garden enjoying selected readings of Jane Austin, by a local artisan dressed in period costume. Take part in a favorite game of the era, Simile and win a prize if you are the last correct participant. Come in a period bonnet and gloves, and be entered in a special door prize drawing. Flower themed complimentary refreshments will be on offer. Three special events planned for your enjoyment in beautiful gardens featuring our star plant - the daylily. Come and enjoy a relaxing day in lovely Carroll County. To better serve you, registration by email or phone call is recommended. Large groups should kindly provide a week’s notice.
Gardens Closed August 4, 2012
Cats Meow Daylily Garden Plots - Download Your Copy
for your visit to our facility.
Price for a minimum of two fans or clumps
of Daylilies - $ 12.00
(Including MD Sales Tax)
 
Abner the Cat Cali the Cat
History of Cats Meow Daylily Garden In June 2008, with my husband having just completed thirty years and myself thirty three and a half years of working in State Government, we decided it was time to retire and actually start living each day as we wanted. For me, that meant being outside, in my gardens, every hour of every day possible. We live in a brick farmhouse built in 1895 on twenty four acres, in a beautiful valley in Carroll County, Maryland. Up until I retired, I did all my gardening on weekends and a couple of nights during the week while my husband was bowling or golfing. Over the past twenty three years, we have put in numerous flower beds, reclaiming the land from wild roses, weeds, poison ivy, and brambles. These flower beds were filled with peonies, bearded iris, sedum, roses, coneflower, and black-eyed Susans, just to name a few. Then several years ago, I stumbled onto the internet and did a search on daylilies. I was dumb founded by what I saw. Never before had I seen such beautiful and unusual blooms. I was used to the orange roadside daylilies. I had no idea the daylily had become so removed from the roadside plant. I started buying large ones, small ones, doubles, spiders, yellow, pink, purple, red, burnt orange, and even green. Now my flower beds are brimming over with this kaleidoscope of varying colors and shapes, along with the other tried and true perennials. I have added new flower beds and expanded existing ones to hold the extra daylily plants that come from dividing mature clumps. At last count, I now have over two hundred and fifty varieties. Over the years, I have added garden statuary, benches, fountains, and most recently a good old fashioned bottle tree. We have brought back many ideas from gardens we have visited during our trips to England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, and Jamaica. By no means do our gardens look anything like Sissinghurst, Hidcote , or Kiftsgate; but all of these gardens were inspirations for ours when we returned home. With no room to add new flower beds, since we rent out the major portion of the acreage to a local farmer, I have taken part of the meadow garden and put in large planting beds. These beds are now used to grow all of my extra daylily plants. What good is it to just warehouse all the extra plants, I asked myself. I decided it is time to sell these extra plants, so other people can enjoy them. And thus begins my second career, the Cats Meow Daylily Garden. What’s in a name you may ask? I love cats, therefore; I decided to have the face of Abner my orange cat superimposed onto a daylily blossom. In this way, I was merging two of my great loves - that of cats and daylilies.
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