Early morning ponderings-no photos

12 years ago

My mind tends to wander around uncontrollably when I first get up in the morning before the coffee sinks in. This morning it got to pondering daylily exitinction.

I am not sure what the current count is as to the number of registered daylilies there are, then species and unregistered as well. I wonder how many of the early registered daylilies just no longer exist any more (people moving on to 'better' blooms, new home owners come in and uproot, etc) They might still exist somewhere in someones garden, but no one knows the name because the person who bought the plant no longer remembers the name, or no longer lives there.

Does anyone know what the first officially registered daylily was? If you wanted to buy the first twenty plants registered, could you find them? In ten years or so will you be able to find a replacement plant that you think is the most wonderful thing you have in your garden today if something happened and you needed another?

Sobering thought isn't it. :( I think I need more coffee.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

Julia WV (6b)
12 years ago
Well I went to the AHS databases and did an advanced search and would you believe that the earliest one registered, that I got on my search came up with 1762. I did have my 2 cups of coffee already LOL.

Apricot (Yeld, 1893)
height 34", season E, Rebloom, Dormant,, Fragrant, OYM2: Orange yellow medium with markings, bitone, or polychrome. (flava H. middendorffii)

Aurantiaca (Baker, 1890)
height 36", season EM, Rebloom, Evergreen,, ROM2: Red orange medium with markings, bitone, or polychrome.

Aurantiaca Major (Baker, 1895)
height 27", season EM, Rebloom, Evergreen, Diploid, YOM1: Yellow-orange medium self.

Disticha (DCH, 1804)
Diploid

Disticha Flore Pleno (DCH, 1860)
Dormant, Diploid, ORM2-P: Orange red medium polychrome.

Disticha-yellow Flowers (DCH, 1825)
Diploid

Flava (Linn, 1762)
height 30", season E, Rebloom, Dormant, Diploid, Fragrant, YL1: Yellow light self Linn., Species Plahtarum, 2nd..

Flavo-citrina (Christ, 1898)
Diploid, Name only.

Florham (Herrington, 1899)
height 48", season EM, Rebloom, Evergreen, Diploid, Fragrant, YM1: Yellow medium self. (H. aurantiaca Major H. thunbergii)

Francis (Yeld, 1895)
Diploid, OYM2: Orange yellow medium with markings, bitone, or polychrome. (H. minor H. middendorfii)

I too wonder if any of these are still around and not a clone of the original.

Julia
lisa_3
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Julia-I can't do that complex of thinking that early in the morning (I get up at 6 am). My brain get up a couple hours later. For fun tonight since it might rain again, I might try looking up some of these online.
Related Discussions
Early Morning Compost ponderings
Q
Comments (9)
*more esoteric musings* I collect coffee grounds & filters from my place of employment. And I also put my fruit leavings (a banana, apple & orange every day) in my collector box. My collector box is 6" X 6" X 6", white, with a handle and a lid that has a removable filter. This little box is a gem. It is from Switzerland or Germany. "OWO O. Collection AG, CH4717 Mumliswil" is the product. It is made out of Polyaethylen. It got a crack on the bottom and side but I sealed that with roofing cement. I got this little beauty at a thrift store for $1.99. Best 2 bucks I ever spent. With the lid on, you don't smell a thing...with the lid off, no matter how old you are, a certain aroma can be detected, depending of course on the contents. *TGIF*
...See More
Early Morning Sun
Q
Comments (1)
Great picture!
...See More
EARLY morning photos for Saturday
Q
Comments (12)
Rita, No I have 2 fans with a bloom on each fan,which is one of the blooms in this post today.The 3rd fan has a bud on it,and it had already bloomed a few days ago,and wasnt a pretty bloom so didnt take a picture of it.Both blooms todAY looks exactly alike.well, maybe these fans need some fertilizer. I didnt get my usual picture of Wonder Of It All.It just had one bloom today and it never did open all the way.Its been so beautiful,I guess it has earned a bad day.It still has buds yet to open. I was just fixing to try and go out and start watering them, when my daughter called me to see if the man got my ac fixed and working now,and I told her yes, and its really putting out cold air now, but,I need to go get started on watering,and she came unglued and told me to not even think about going out right now,Its much to hot out there, 104,she told me to wait till the sun gos down,and even then will be a bake oven out there.I forgot if Oktoberfest reblooms or not.Have to check and see,and if it reblooms, maybe if I put fertilizer around it, the next blooms will be the orange color. hope so. Jean
...See More
Some good early morning openers (photos)
Q
Comments (9)
Very pretty, you take such nice pictures! I haven't been out early in a while, not since school has been out for summer vacation. I know that some of mine don't even open all the way untill the sun hits them. I have noticed that my navajo princess will start to open the evening before they bloom though so she probably opens early. -Jessica
...See More
weedyseedy
12 years ago
Not to mention the fact that plants may have been mislabeled, sold as species, not recognized as bee pods amidst the cultivars, and, there are now over sixty thousand---I can't deal with it, I will stay with less than a hundred favorites. Oh, well, and their unnamed chillen growing all over my woods.------------------------------------------Weedy
crackingtheconcrete
12 years ago
If it's easy, Lisa, and you find them, post pics because I would be curious!

I know I love those species ones that are bloom-crazy! It's like a party on a plant!

:)
Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
12 years ago
I wouldn't say these daylilies are original cultivars from the 1800's but they are over 50 years old still blooming in my yard. I also have a couple of large clumps of dumonteiri species daylilies in the front garden, also over 50 years old.
lisa_3
Original Author
12 years ago
So far found Apricot-photo on a couple sites look the same , but don't match the description as neither are bitone. Also found Flava-which is also called lemon lily, and Aurantiaca. All are yellow to orangey yellow.
Of course this brings the ponderings of what was the first non yellow/orange daylily, and how in the world did we manage to get to the flowers we have now from ones that all look pretty much the same?
timberohio
12 years ago
Hoot Owl Hollow has some old dayliles. I haven't been to their site in a couple years, but I remember trying to find really old ones when I first started.

Andrea
floota
12 years ago
Several people in AHS collect and maintain some of the historic daylilies. Check AHS Display Gardens on the website and you will see that some of those gardens are also designated as historic gardens. This means they have to grow a certain number of cultivars registered before a certain date. One of the best historic displays I have seen was at Kathy Lamb's Loon Song Garden in MN. There I saw 'Apricot' (the first registered cultivar) blooming for the first time.
John Ware in VA and Mark Cook in FL also have fairly extensive collections of historic daylilies.
lisa_3
Original Author
12 years ago
Not really looking to buy them. It's more of an exersize of interest. You have to wonder how many of the daylilies listed as registered don't even exist anymore.