We don’t need to dig deeply in horticultural history to learn the origin of modern daylilies. For centuries, all we had was the common roadside daylily (orange), the sweetly scented tuberose daylily (yellow), and a copper (or “fulvous red”) colored one. These three varieties were introduced to the New World by colonists.
This changed in the 1930’s with the hybridizing efforts of Dr. A. B. Stout of the New York Botanic Gardens. Today, all heirloom daylilies (or day lily) can be traced back to his work. Dr. Stout brought on an incredible palate. Today, there are over 45,000 named varieties. Which varieties can we call “heirlooms?” Certainly, the good ol’ roadside daylily is an heirloom…but I find that variety much too simple for my taste. The Heirloom Orchardist’s garden displays several daylilies introduced in the 1950’s through the 1970’s. These are certainly old enough to have been grown by my grandfather.
Daylilies are remarkably hardy, and they bring color to the garden during the midseason slump. These beauties (available through our associated e-commerce sites) have been considered classics for decades:
Old-Fashioned Daylily : This is one of the original varieties, with an ancient history in Asian medicine and cuisine. I t was highly prized by colonists when they settled the New World. So incredibly hardy, these dayliles easily made the trip across the Atlantic, and thrived in alien soil. In some areas it has naturalized along our rural roadways. Today, it continues as an attractive kitchen garden plant. Its large distinctive orange blossoms and fleshy tubers are a nourishing food. This plant would be a good addition to back of your herb garden. It’ll brighten the garden with mid-season color, as the foliage provides a tall grassy backdrop. (Colonial Era)
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Ruffled Red: W.B. MacMillan (“Mr. Mac”) was born in 1883. He and his wife "Peggy Mac " were interested in numerous flower types. Their garden in Abbeville, Louisiana was made nationally famous by their extraordinary talents in growing azaleas, camellias, and Louisiana iris. But the MacMillans are best 
remembered for their outstanding work in hybridizing round, ruffled daylilies. These became known as the “MacMillan form.” Ruffled Red is one of their first introductions, registered in 1953. It has a rich deep red color with overlapping petals and bold yellow throat. Ruffled Red is a very strong bloomer, and it's known to hold up well under an intense sun. (MacMillan 1953)
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Spellbinder: 
S. Houston Baker was one of the early daylily breeders who became enthused by Hemerocallis soon after Stout did his work. After he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1899, he became involved in the American Iris Society and the American Hemerocallis Society. He was a great plantsman. In 1944, The Cranford (NJ) Citizen and Chronical reported that “S. Houston Baker…took the sweepstakes prize…with his exhibition of seedling delphiniums.”
Baker introduced Hemerocallis 'Spellbinder' to the world in 1957, and it remains an old favorite. Fragrant, radiant golden tangerine-orange with a small, dark green throat. Its petals have tightly compressed pie crust edges; sepals are smooth and slightly recurved. It blooms very early to midsummer and reblooms later in the season. (S.H. Baker, 1957)
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Ice Carnival: Frank and Peggy Childs worked together breeding daylilies of all colors and shapes. In thirty years, their expansive garden in Jenkinsburg, Georgia explored single and double blossoms, diploids, tetraploids, and every daylily color. Their first major breakthrough involved experimentation with pastel pink blossoms in the early 1950’s. This was followed by a burst of milestone introductions in the 1960’s, including Ice Carnival, of 1967. When introduced, the flowers were often described as “near white.” But this Heirloom Orchardist thinks Ice Carnival displays a soft lemony tone with a nice fragrance. It’s an extremely reliable and hardy daylily.
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Bertie Ferris: 
The American Hemerocallis Society was founded in 1959. Through the years, the AHS established a series of awards given annually to daylilies of merit. This required defining standards for daylily characteristics. A “miniature” daylily is one that displays blossoms less than 3” in diameter. Bertie Ferris is one of the best re-blooming miniatures. Introduced in 1969, Bertie Ferris won the Donn Fisher Award for miniatures in 1973. Seven years later, Bertie won the Stout Silver Medal, the highest award a cultivar can receive! Its coloring is described as a soft “creamcicle” or “orange sherbert.” Bertie Ferris grows to 20”. It’s popular for the front of the border. (Winniford, 1969)
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Buttered Popcorn: In 1958, plant breeder Fred Benzinger decided to specialize in Daylilies. Good thing, 'cuz thirteen years later he introduced Buttered Popcorn to Daylily enthusiasts. This classic tetraploid cultivar quickly became a favorite, and made Daylily history as an All America winner. The scapes (the stems that support the blossoms) tend to grow to multiple heights, producing buttery-colored flowers at different levels…like popping corn. It’s a large flowered variety, with blooms as wide as 6” in diameter, and it has a long bloom period. Some say it looks like a yellow peony! (Benzinger, 1971)
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Ruby Throat: Robert Griesbach began his daylily breeding experiments by working to develop tetraploid plants. These have four sets of chromosomes instead of the typical two. Doubling the chromosome number allows the color of these blossoms to be more intense, because the new plants may have as many as four doses of a given pigment. Griesbach likes to concentrate on purifying colors. Twenty years after his first tetraploid bloomed in 1959, Griesbach introduced Ruby Throat (developed in collaboration with Roy Klehm). 
This daylily became famous as a breakthrough for daylily red. Ruby Throat has clear, deep red blooms with a yellow or green throat. The petals have pinched ruffled edges. A great late daylily with 5” blooms on strong scapes. (Griesbach-Klehm, 1979)
