They have been collected and cultivated for thousands of years for food and medicine, long before they were used as ornamentals in the garden. The buds of the tawny daylily, Hemerocallis fulva , are still used as a food flavoring in Asian cooking and can be eaten raw or cooked. Over the centuries, daylilies were transported far outside their native range and have become naturalized in other regions of the world. They were brought to Europe much about the sixteenth century. The tawny daylily has spread throughout the temperate world and is a common sight along roadsides and in old gardens in much of North America.
Daylily species have trumpet-shaped flowers in shades of clear yellow or orange.
Along Daylily Walk, there are hundreds of plants with flowers of different colors, shapes, and patterns. These new daylilies are the result of decades of careful hybridization and selection by dozens of amateur and professional growers throughout the United States and England. Today there are more than 40,000 daylily cultivars registered with the American Hemerocallis Society . Much of the pioneering work that has resulted in these beautiful new plants began here at The New York Botanical Garden. Dr. Arlow B. Stout is recognized as the founder of the modern hybrid daylily.