The registration and introduction of new daylilies has increased greatly since the early 1950's when serious daylily hybridizing began in the United States. The oldest and longest continuous northern grown daylilies are the Barth Daylilies. These were begun by the late Reverend Dr. Joseph Barth in 1952 in the small mid-coastal Maine Town of Alna. Dr. Barth named and registered 36 daylilies and has been recognized as a pioneer in the development of the tetraploid daylily. Today Barth Daylilies are available from O'Donal's Nursery in Gorham, Maine where Nicholas Barth, Dr. Barth's oldest son, continues the hybridizing of Barth Daylilies. Here are a small sample of the better known Dr. Barth tetraploid daylilies and some created by Nicholas Barth. Many of these daylilies have been, or are now, included in the collections of numerous northern daylily growers and hybridizers. Enjoy!

My favorite is Little Red Treat

I have Barth's 'Susan Elizabeth'. Good performer here but unfortunately I don't seem to have a photo of my own to add.



Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Susan Elizabeth')

Are you hybridizing with these plants, Mainer?? This is an interesting thread as I worked with an early line that was similar and know wonderful plant habit can come from crossing these timeless older things with modern flower faces. The result can be fabulous scapes and dormant plants that can survive in the coldest climates with very short summers....and new, very different looks can be achieved in just one or two generations. These plants should be of particular interest to hybridizers in zone 5 and colder who want sturdy plants free of modern maladies that not only look nice, but survive harsh climates.

Do you have any seedlings that you would like to show us or tell us about??

Some of these dls are very pretty.
It would be nice to see some stats like bloom size, branching, bud count, bloom time, etc. The O'Donal's site doesn't seem to have anything besides height. Anybody have any info to share on any of these intros?

From the A.H.S. daylily registration database for two of the daylilies pictured above:

Boothbay Delight (Barth-N., 2003) height 33in (84cm), bloom 6in (15.0cm), season La, Dormant, Tetraploid, 12 buds, 3 branches, Lavender pink self above green yellow throat. (Mariska × Lady Liz)

Vanessa Barth (Barth, 1983) height 34in (86cm), bloom 6in (15.0cm), season M, Dormant, Tetraploid, Reddish purple polychrome with near blue watermark and green throat. (Blue Blood × sdlg)