Daylily Walk

An American Daylily Society Display Garden featuring more than 200 historic and modern cultivars from more than 120 years of hybridizing. The daylilies are organized chronologically by date of introduction and put on a great show in July and August. Designed by Dorthe Hviid, 2003.

Daylilies are tough plants. They are nearly indestructible and require little maintenance. A dug-up rootstock can survive for months out of the ground. Yet, in contrast to that robust durability of the plant, daylily flowers are fleeting. As the common name suggests, individual blooms last just a single day.

A Living Timeline

The species daylily Hemerocallis fulva, an Asian native, came to America with early European settlers. It quickly escaped into the surrounding landscape and now enlivens roadsides across New England with its orange flowers. There are more than 60,000 daylily cultivars today — but all developed from a breeding pool of about 19 species.

Our collection of 200 daylily cultivars is organized chronologically by the year each was registered with the American Hemerocallis Society. Just beyond this sign at the top of the walk, are six forms of wild daylilies that represent the pure species from which the cultivars were derived.

Did you know?

Most daylilies are classified as either diploid or tetraploid, depending on the number of sets of chromosomes in each cell. Diploid daylilies have two sets of chromosomes, while tetraploids have four. The ancestors of all of today's daylilies were diploid. Breeders altered the number of chromosome sets by treating plants with the chemical colchicine (extracted from the fall crocus, colchicum autumnale).

Increasing the number of chromosome sets makes it easier to bring out traits hidden in the plant's genome, such as wavy edges and larger flowers, helping to expand the range of extraordinary daylily varieties grown today.