I was amazed to have to go to end of page to find Stella D'Oro. 1975 and while very common still one of my favorites. Easy to grow, easy to propagate and very long blooming.

Someone mentioned "oldies" on another thread, so I thought I'd give this thread a bump.

I think all the older cultivars I grow have already been mentioned by others, so I will just add that one of my "top five" all-time favorite daylilies I grow is an older cultivar, Novelty Number from 1965. It showed up early in the thread, so just giving it an addtional shout-out here.

Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Novelty Number')

From all the pics you've posted of it, it definitely is a good oldie!

Willow (1960) by far the oldest dayliliy I grow. My middle daughter is Willow, so I grow it for her

I refuse to count the rogue Stellas still in the bed

H citrina, Hypeion nd a couple NOIDs from my grandmother's garden re probably among my oldest.

I collected a number of historic whites, inluding Whistling Swan (Hall-D.F., 1955), the first daylily registered as"near white'

Catherine Woodbury, Childs 1967

I have an area for rescues and this one bloomed this week but I couldn't identify it. As I remember where it came from I can recognize it now
Not sure if this one has already been mentioned but it is still a favourite of mine - Aabachee (1957)

OMG, this category is huge in my yard. I moved into a house with lots of oldies growing that are still not all identified. I started collecting in 1996 or thereabouts and bought whatever looked pretty and was affordable so have ended up with tons of historic plants. I really didn't start planting anything modern until three years ago…of course, I did go quite crazy with trying to catch up but I haven't deleted a single oldie… out of over 900 Daylilies in my yard, I'm sure at least 500 are pre 1990.

OMG Zoia - how many acres is your backyard I am curious as to how you 'arrange' them. I would 'line out' some of my new purchases until I found a good spot amongst other plants but ultimately, with no new spaces, they didn't move
Then when that whole huge area of lined out hems bloomed it was a sore sight for eyes (note - not a sight for sore eyes ) Eventually I moved all 200 of the lined out ones to the Rainbow Bed - 100 feet of space on the east side of our driveshed - sorted by colour, dark purple one side down to white the opposite side. This is a much more peaceful arrangement

Photos Val? Please?

Zoia, surely you must have a few favorite oldies.

This is most of the Rainbow Bed from the white end (Smugglers Gold came in late and there was only room for it after the whites!) The crocosmia is going now but in the pic it is hiding the reds; more reds go round the corner for another 30 feet - in fact the driveshed is now surrounded on three sides by mostly hems


Each of the 14 colour blocks has a peony that sort of matches the colour of that block.

Gorgeous, Valerie!

I just went through my entire list, and the oldest ones I grow are

Ribbonette, 1951
Frans Hals, 1955
Bitsy, 1963
Quilt Patch, 1964
Novelty Number, 1965
Persian Market, 1969
So Lovely, 1969

My oldest:
Flore Pleno 1917
Hyperion 1924
Taj Mahal 1945
Poinsettia 1953
Frans Hals 1955
Black Plush 1955
Little Wart 1964
Red Ribbons 1964
Ice Carnival 1967
Persian Market 1969
Dixie Land band 1969

Hoo boy. Ok, I'll go through the list. This could take a while. Btw, I have 3/4 of an acre and I'm quite fond of crazy profusions of color in no particular order. I'm not going to include unregistered plants or NOIDS, although many of the are clearly old and came with the house. I won't list plants that are gone or that haven't bloomed here yet. I'll use 2,000 as the cut off year.

Acres of Angels, Wild 1976



Alabama Jubilee, Webster 1988, love this plant



All American Chief, Sellers 1994, right on the edge of historic, also love this



All Truth, Wild 1987



Alnilam, Saxton 1949



Along the Way, Stevens-D 1980



Always Afternoon, Morss 1987



Antique Treasure, Wild 1985



Baby Blue Eyes, Shooter 1998 ( still last century)



Bandit Man, Stevens-D 1979



Banned in Boston, Simpson-D 1994



Blackthorne, Trimmer 1996



Blueberry Breakfast, Rose 1988, an old favorite



Blueberry Candy, Stamile 1993



Bubbling Over, Joiner 1991



Bumble Bee, Williamson 1964



Burgess Dragonfly, Albers 1999



Buttered Popcorn, Benzinger 1971



Caramel and Honey, Wild 1989



Casco Bay Delight, Valente 1999, great plant



Cherry Lace, Wild 1972



Chicago Apache, Marsh-Klehm 1981



Chicago Arnie's Choice, Marsh-Klehm 1981



Chicago Ruby, Klehm 1977



Child Bride, Warner 1972



Chinese Scribe, Munson-RW 1991



Chorus Line, Kirshhoff-D 1981



Cloverdale, Peck 1974



Condilla, Grooms 1977



Copper Chameleon, Sobek 1995, I really love this



Country Fair Winds, Klehm 1988



Country Vista, Wild 1988



Court Troubadour, Brooks-H 1984, with bee



Cranberry Baby, Croker 1984



Cranberry Cove, Stamile 1985



Crimson Pirate, Sass-HR 1951, this might be Sammy Russell, Russell 1951, they are super similar and I can't tell from photos. This is all over my yard, grows like a weed, reblooms, bud builds, super strong



Dance Ballerina Dance, Peck 1976



Dawn Ballet, Reckamp 1975



Decatur Cherry Smash, Davidson 1981



Demetrius, Harris-H 1977



Do the Twist, Lambertson 1998



Doll House, Wild 1975



Double Tulip, Miles-J 1963



Dublin Elaine, Joiner 1987



Duke of Earl, Benz 1987



Dunrobin Red Velvet, Knott 1997



Ok, that's 4 letters of the alphabet, generating 46 entries. More later!

Zoia, you don't have to post them all if you don't have time. I used 1969 as my cut off, and you have a lot more plants than I do. I just wanted to know if you have particular favorites from the oldies. Of the ones you've posted so far, I really love Antique Treasure--such a unique look. I always notice it when you post pics of it, but I hadn't realized it was such an old cultivar. I also adore Cranberry Cove--one of my absolute favorites of yours.

Thank you Valerie for posting a photo of the rainbow bed. Seeing them in mass is quite the impact, just lovely!

Vals_Garden said: This is most of the Rainbow Bed from the white end (Smugglers Gold came in late and there was only room for it after the whites!) The crocosmia is going now but in the pic it is hiding the reds; more reds go round the corner for another 30 feet - in fact the driveshed is now surrounded on three sides by mostly hems


Each of the 14 colour blocks has a peony that sort of matches the colour of that block.

Yes, that rainbow bed is so pretty and I noticed how they all seemed to be about the same height. That really gives it a nice flow to the rainbow look.

I was surprised that my "oldest" list has changed so much in the 11 years since my first post of oldies. Only Parfait and August Flame have made the cut, but I've added some oldies since then. Like Nan, I used 1969 as my cut-off year.

H. citrina (1897, Baroni)


Hyperion (1924, Mead-F.B.)


Parfait (1951, Childs-F.)


Miss Jessie (1956, Hardy)


Statuesque (1956, Stout)


August Flame (1967, Woods)


Persian Market (1969, Munson-RW)


Bertie Ferris (1969, Winniford)

Thanks Vickie - actually the hems in back rows are 38" - 45" on average and the front hems are around 20"
Your hems are a real trip down memory lane I just gave my clump of Persian Market away but kept one fan - which has just bloomed a 4X4



I still have Corky (1959)


and Winsome Lady (1964) just started blooming


I didn't realize that H. Kwanso variegated was so old (1947) and I have had this one for close to 40 years now - not always variegated of course (rapid departure from garden!) and not always where I've planted it (rapid departure from its new territory!)


This clump ran under one half of a huge weeping white pine pair in to the path and always surprises people that it's a daylily. Haven't the heart to relocate this one yet.