When I was a boy, I found a garden “to do” list tucked between the pages of an old yellowed book stored in the family summer cottage. There, amongst a dozen or so garden tasks, my grandfather wrote: “Transplant Hemerocallis.”
The notes were scribbled in the 1920’s, but I know exactly what my grandfather’s daylilies looked like. I know this partly because 90 years ago, there simply weren’t very many daylily varieties available. But the primary reason I know how his daylilies looked is because, well, they still exist. I find numerous offspring of Grandad’s orange daylilies growing all over the property. Since the garden at the summer place has taken on a (how shall we say…) a “self-maintained character” since granddad died, these hardy orange and yellow blossoms that pop up everywhere are welcome and appreciated.
That’s what great old Daylilies do. They endure. That’s one reason I love them. That’s why this Heirloom Orchardist has created a page devoted entirely to heirloom daylilies
, and the breeders of these great plants. Give it a look.
