There are some nocturnal daylilies, yes. They begin opening in the evening (or late afternoon). The problem is that by the middle of the next day, the blooms have deteriorated, and have started to close. They do not make a pretty picture in the afternoon garden, when compared to the diurnal daylilies (all of whose blooms are open and still in good condition). Since my garden has to look good during the day, I ended up removing the nocturnals.
(Years ago, I read an excerpt from a round robin entry, from someone who had Hemerocallis citrina, which is a fragrant nocturnal daylily species. (All "modern" daylilies, and all of the daylilies in my garden, are hybrids.) This individual had it planted right outside their bedroom window, so that in the summer, with the window open, he could (as I recall) "rise up at night and smell the blooms". Lol! I guess that might have been his twist on a daylily in a Moon Garden!)
Regarding the photos at dusk... yes, I had to use a tripod. I did try taking the photos without one (all these photos are from digital cameras), but the shutter has to stay open for so long that it was impossible to hold the camera rock steady throughout, with the end result that all of the handheld images were blurred.
(Apart from being pleased at the interest this topic has generated, I have to say that I am also somewhat amused... at myself. I had long wanted to write an article for the Daylily Journal (or at least, our regional daylily newsletter) on this subject, but could never get enough varied pictures together (because of deer raids, gopher raids (last year was a nightmare for gophers), the irrigation issues, re-layout of that garden area, and so on - not to mention daylilies coming and going). My husband knew of my interest and desire to get low light images, so he bought the tripod for me for just that purpose - taking those garden pictures at dusk. I never thought that I would end up discussing the Moon Garden (in detail) or publishing the images on an online forum, though. I guess I just couldn't wait any longer to talk about all of this. Lol!)
