208 



cultural clones, and to some extent most of these were propagated 

 by nurserymen and grown in flower gardens. Some of these types, 

 as Luteola, Aureole, and Florham, bloom in late June and July 

 and were welcome additions to the group of garden daylilies. 



During the past ten years the interest in daylilies has greatly 

 increased and more attention has been paid to the growing of 

 seedlings. As a result another ioo horticultural clones have been 

 named and at least one thousand seedlings of merit have come 

 into existence from which selections are being made for introduc- 

 tion in the near future. 



How shall we evaluate the 200 clones of daylilies that have now- 

 been named for garden culture? Many are of no special merit 

 and need not be considered for culture. In the development of 

 any group of garden plants certain seedlings are likely to be 

 named and introduced by persons who know too few types and 

 who have few seedlings from which to make selections. This has 

 been and still is the case for daylilies. Some of the daylilies which 

 would be rated high are very similar to each other. A critical 

 evaluation of all the daylilies now in the nursery trade would 

 probably recognize twenty-five or thirty clones that are both excel- 

 lent and distinctive. In fact daylilies have become so diverse 

 that this number of clones may be selected without close duplica- 

 tion of type and character. In stature there is a range from semi- 

 dwarf plants that stand about two feet tall to robust types six 

 feet tall. In the extreme habits of growth there are drooping 

 foliage and flower stems and there are stiffly erect foliage and 

 scapes. There are clones that are strictly day-blooming, clones 

 that bloom chiefly at night, and others whose individual flowers 

 last for two days. In respect to the season of flowering a selection 

 ran lie made which will provide succession of flowers from the 

 middle of May until late in August. In respect to colors there 

 is a wide range in the shades of yellow and orange, both in clear 

 colors and in combination with fulvous red. In some of the clones 

 recently introduced, as in Mikado Daylily, there is a conspicuous 

 blotch of dark mahogany-red in the midsection of each petal. 

 There is also much diversity in the fragrance, form, size, and 

 shape of the flowers. 



1 am certain that very few of yon who are listening to me have 

 seen the 25 or 30 daylilies that represent the range of excellent hor- 



