Whether thoughtfully placed, dappled about, or planted en masse, daylilies can bring a fireworks display of color to a garden. We love daylilies for their beauty and endurance.

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One simple pleasure for us is to visit daylily farms in July; they are at peak and an opportune time to view these beautiful masses of color. Some farms are larger than others offering hundreds to even thousands of cultivars, and with 10’s of thousands available and I am told over 1500+ new ones annually, one is sure to find something special.

For the first time visitor one will suddenly become aware of the challenge that awaits.  Selecting is not an easy task even for the seasoned buyer. Just picture yourself among 600+ cultivars like we were at Ellie’s Daylilies in Unity,  Maine. Crimson reds, bold oranges, bright yellows, deep pinks, strong lavenders, soft peaches, near whites, ruffled edges, single or double bloom, time of bloom and lets not forget size of the bloom! And there’s more.

My husband and I have an agreement, each of us choose one (near impossible) to come home with us. We walk the small farm together, unawarely drift apart, each intensely studying and making a mental note of contenders. After what seems like minutes turns into over an hour. At this point we press ourselves into making a decision and were able to select 2 that would be a unique fit in our garden.

Tuscawilla Tigress

Margaret McWhorter

A favorite and entertaining experience for us was open farm day years ago at hybridizer Nick Barth’s farm in Alna, ME. We knew we were in for some excitement when we had trouble finding a place to park on this quiet and narrow densely wooded back road. We could not help but notice all of the out of state tags and wondered, “what’s going on”. There were people scattered throughout the field, standing around sentry like, guarding lily clumps and giving the evil eye to anyone who even came close to there find. The “fools rush in” expression comes to mind.

We had never witnessed anything like this; it was a civilized madhouse with an eclectic crowd. There were ladies wearing fine clothing with dainty open toed shoes and gold jewelry among dirt and dust at a lily farm on a hot summers day among us. I couldn’t help but ask one of these ladies why she was so protective of her clump.  “You see”, she said in her proper southern accent “ I’ve come all the way here from Texas for this day because I simply must have this cultivar in my garden.” We thought wow, and quickly realized that Barth’s Daylilies are unique and highly sought after.

Even with all the darting and dashing about in addition to directing the “digging staff” to satisfy anxious customers, hybridizer Nick Barth was friendly and engaging. He was kind enough to take a moment to answer our questions and even demonstrated hybridizing techniques. He spoke of his farther the late Dr. Joseph Barth a hybridizer and pioneer from whom he took the farm over with his wife Sandy. It was quite an experience for us, and one I’ll never forget. The farm was sold to Fieldview Farms in 2004 and they relocated over 4000 Barth clumps to Dresden Me, an incredible undertaking.

On that day we came home with the 2-lily allotment, and to this day they remain our favorite daylilies choices with intriguing names and distinctive beauty.

Bittersweet Holiday

"Not Forgotten" J. Barth - N. Barth