US sources for man-in-the-moon marigold seeds?
March 1, 2015 9:04 AM Subscribe
Hoping there are some US Mefites who are literary gardeners and might have an answer to this one: is there a US online retailer or other source for Tagetes erecta "Man-on-the-moon" (aka Man-in-the-moon) seeds?
I've got it in my head that I'd like to grow man-in-the-moon marigolds this year. I was in high school when Paul Zindel won a Pulitzer for "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" and had a close friend whose mother knew Zindel. At the time I had little clue about either gamma rays or marigolds and the title seemed highly exotic. I still don't know much about gamma rays but have grown plenty of marigolds (or I should say, allowed the volunteers that return every year to come back unmolested).
It seems that Burpee Seeds developed the man-in-the-moon variety during their quest for a pure white marigold, and renamed it as "man-on-the-moon" after the Apollo landing. It also appears that Burpee no longer sells the variety, and the Googling I've done suggests that no other US online retailers do either. Various sites in the UK and elsewhere do still sell the variety. One of the UK companies said they could ship to me if I accepted the risk that US Customs might confiscate the seeds, which sounds a bit grim.
So... any alternatives? Plus I'm curious about why a (fairly well known) commerical seed variety would disappear in the US but remain for sale overseas.
I've got it in my head that I'd like to grow man-in-the-moon marigolds this year. I was in high school when Paul Zindel won a Pulitzer for "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" and had a close friend whose mother knew Zindel. At the time I had little clue about either gamma rays or marigolds and the title seemed highly exotic. I still don't know much about gamma rays but have grown plenty of marigolds (or I should say, allowed the volunteers that return every year to come back unmolested).
It seems that Burpee Seeds developed the man-in-the-moon variety during their quest for a pure white marigold, and renamed it as "man-on-the-moon" after the Apollo landing. It also appears that Burpee no longer sells the variety, and the Googling I've done suggests that no other US online retailers do either. Various sites in the UK and elsewhere do still sell the variety. One of the UK companies said they could ship to me if I accepted the risk that US Customs might confiscate the seeds, which sounds a bit grim.
So... any alternatives? Plus I'm curious about why a (fairly well known) commerical seed variety would disappear in the US but remain for sale overseas.
Response by poster: Is this the same hybrid, just with a different name?
posted by Creosote at 9:44 AM on March 1, 2015
posted by Creosote at 9:44 AM on March 1, 2015
Best answer: I'd agree that this may not be available in the US because of demand.
The Man-in-the-Moon marigold isn't really a white marigold - is a very pale lemon colored marigold that Burpee introduced in the 1960's when they were trying to develop a white variety. At that time, it was as white marigold as you could grow. When the pure-white marigold varieties were introduced in the 1970's, the older, not-quite-white marigolds probably didn't sell well and were dropped. More about David Burpee and white marigolds can be found on Burpee's flikr photostream.
The Moonlight variety that Iris Gambol linked to is a pure-white marigold, so not the same as Man-in-the-Moon.
You may try posting on a seed swap site. Marigold seeds are easy to harvest so you could get lucky. I've not swapped seeds myself but here are two sites that I would consider using:
* National Gardening Association
* GardenWeb
Good luck!
posted by bCat at 4:06 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Man-in-the-Moon marigold isn't really a white marigold - is a very pale lemon colored marigold that Burpee introduced in the 1960's when they were trying to develop a white variety. At that time, it was as white marigold as you could grow. When the pure-white marigold varieties were introduced in the 1970's, the older, not-quite-white marigolds probably didn't sell well and were dropped. More about David Burpee and white marigolds can be found on Burpee's flikr photostream.
The Moonlight variety that Iris Gambol linked to is a pure-white marigold, so not the same as Man-in-the-Moon.
You may try posting on a seed swap site. Marigold seeds are easy to harvest so you could get lucky. I've not swapped seeds myself but here are two sites that I would consider using:
* National Gardening Association
* GardenWeb
Good luck!
posted by bCat at 4:06 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks. The UK retailer I found is going to ship me a couple packs in the hopes they'll make it here OK, and if not I'll try those links.
Meanwhile I found a detailed chart listing first and last dates of zillions of marigold cultivars: http://horthistoria.com/?p=270
posted by Creosote at 7:05 AM on March 2, 2015
Meanwhile I found a detailed chart listing first and last dates of zillions of marigold cultivars: http://horthistoria.com/?p=270
posted by Creosote at 7:05 AM on March 2, 2015
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posted by sevenless at 9:24 AM on March 1, 2015