When I first started this obsession (and thought I had endless room to plant), I looked for the best deals and never spent more than $15 on a plant. Most were $5-$10. Gradually, you find more that appeal to you that are newer and pricier. I've still not spent more than $75 on a daylily, and that was a splurge. I usually wait until the price comes down and then I indulge.

There are still many great plants out there that are very inexpensive. I think the traits of the some of the newer daylilies appeal more to people who are dabbling in hybridizing. For for casual gardeners, it's a pretty cheap addiction!

Chris

Chris is correct - - for many of us, we started out with inexpensive daylilies and as our likes and dislikes changed and as our "expendable" cash increased, we bought some that are more expensive.

Note: "Expendable" in this case is defined as whatever our addiction to these plants makes us spend!

Anyway, I started where you are and have gradually increased the price I am willing to pay, but I also buy fewer plants now than I did when I was buying the less expensive ones. I have never bought a new introduction and probably never will, but I don't fault those that do if they have the money. However, you will be surprised how many of the older, more affordable daylilies look very much like the ones that cost $100+ - - maybe the new one is a little taller, an evergreen instead of a semi-evergreen, or has a 6 inch bloom instead of a 5 inch bloom. Here is a site for another Mississippi grower. I have not done business with her, so I can't really give a personal recommendation. Perhaps others on this forum can provide a personal comment. There are a lot of daylilies in the $5 - $20 range and, if you look at her 2007 specials, many are for less that $5. Take a look at the descriptions, look at her gallery and then spend some time on Tinkers database looking at their pictures. Find what you like and go for it! That is one of the great things about daylilies - - there are beautiful daylilies that will fit into just about any budget.

Here is a link that might be useful: Daylily Haven and Iris Gardens

No Jim,

Not all of us are spending big bucks on the latest and the greatest. Some are, of course, if they HAVE the money to spend, and I don't begrudge them for that. I simply wish to fill my gardens with tried-and-true cultivars, especially the ones that are Northern hardy. I am willing to wait a few years for prices to come down on the newer intros. I'm also dabbing pollen for my own enjoyment, not looking for future economic gain from my endeavors.

You might try growing some award winning daylilies as a starting base, then branch out from there. I'll provide a link to these beauties, then you can do further Google searching (or use a different search engine) on each cultivar to see which venders supply them.

Julie

Here is a link that might be useful: Award Winning Daylilies

Most of us here just buy what we like - and sometimes we spend more than we should - that is the sign of a true addiction. We trade plants sometimes too -- and every once in awhile, a box shows up on your doorstep from a forum friend which contains the very plant you have wishing for. When I first started out, I bought from a friendly person on ebay that had pretty flowers at very reasonable prices -- only after being educated did I realize that I bought all dormants for my hot sunny garden. She was very nice and took hours to help me understand the growing habits and basic workings of the daylily. Some do well, most do okay and several have had to find a colder home north. This is my 7th year growing daylilies and I dabble with selling plants as well as seeds to fund my new aquisitions. Do I buy new intros? - sometimes - but I have a set purpose in mind and in a couple of years, might sell a fan or two to recoup my original investment. I have also bought a few older plants recently due to some of their offspring - such as ENCHANTING APRIL to cross with FORESTLAKE RAGAMUFFIN which I already have. That cross has produced PUFFER FISH, HEAVENLY PINK FANG and BUZZ SAW to name just a few. Not that I expect exact duplicates as that would be impossible - but just knowing that this particular cross kicked out these three with teeth makes it worth trying for me. I prefer to wait for a bargin which will come if one waits long enough. It is all in what you like. That is the diversity of the daylily. There are beautiful ones for $5 a double fan just as there are beautiful ones for $150 each. Buy in your price range and enjoy the flowers - they are all wonderful but very addicting. But I do have to say that daylily people are some of the nicest people you will every want to meet and yes.. they are RICH - RICH with good advice, RICH with humor, RICH with prayers when needed and RICH in friendship.
Shelly

Bottom line here is people spend their money on what is important to them at the time. I've heard of $400 hair cuts!!!! Personally, I can't imagine why I would pay more for a plant than I would for a good book. (Even a paperback costs less than most of these daylilies.) I also know that the general public feels as you and I do Jim.

The limit people will pay in the general public for a daylily (IMHO) is $8. At a farmer's mkt. I can sell lots of large double/triple bare-root divisions for $5. It can have chicken phat, eye-zones, multiple everything and it will be a hard sell if I charge more. As a result, I don't.

That said, I wouldn't pay for a pure-breed dog when I can get a wonderful mutt at the shelter. I wouldn't buy high priced cosmetics when I can get something (made by the same company) much cheaper. We all have our preferences and we spend our money on them.

Rich people never say they are rich. LOL! I,personally, am cheap!I won't pay more than $14.99 for a pair of jeans,and the most costly plant was 23.00 on LA. I ,as a rule,won't pay over 30.00 including the shipping,and it took me 2 years to go that high! You can get some real nice plants on the Lily Auction for a real good price if you are willing to let it pass if it goes above what you are willing to pay. They start at under 7.00,and sometimes no one else bids. So take a look there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lily Auction

Jim, just as Shelly said, we are rich on this forum. In all the ways that count. Now, to the point; I have spent big bucks for a daylily. I worked for Wal-Mart.. ( I am retired ) just for that purpose. I saved all of my earnings for dls with the exception of gas and lunch money. I no longer work there but am able to save some out of my retirement just for my daylily fund. Also, I sale some from my yard. A couple of years ago, I gave a lot away for postage and I trade some with Chris and Numama. I said all of that to say this...if you want it, save for it and buy it. Afterall, it's only money and you can't take it with you so I try to enjoy what little I have now...My dh and I are on a fixed income but we have been very careful the last few years, with our money...... Yep, I'm rich....Ellie

No, not rich in money---but rich in beautiful things. DL's are in that group.

I start out being given some fine plants by my daughter. Hers grow nicely and she needs to thin them out and she certainly has good taste.

Once in a while, I buy a few from commericials, I go through their descriptions and pick out some. I have made out really good that way at getting plants I dearly love.

I haven't spent much money at all. I did spend over $100. twice about 10 years ago---I still have all those plants and they are thriving, plus a peony that was a bonus. Oh what a peony!!

Kay

Many of my favorite daylilies are in the $5-$10 range! And if you're willing to wait a few years most daylilies go down in price a lot. Have you seen Marietta Garden's website? They have a wide price range. Homestead Farms has a lot of less expensive daylilies. I ordered from them a couple years ago and they sent nice plants. They are from a colder zone than you though. I've also gotten some nice plants from my local daylily club's sales, where all the plants are donated from members' gardens and they're only $5.

Juliet

Jim,

I basically stick with the $5 & $10 daylilies. There are plenty of those that have lovely blooms. I have a very large yard to fill, and couldn't get very far very fast with expensive ones. I did start hybridizing this summer as a means of increasing what I have. I found it to be a lot of fun, and this coming spring and summer, I will be a lot more serious about it.

I have bought a few really fine cultivars, but only after researching their ancestry and their progeny. In fact, I will be buying one or two that cost over $100 this spring, but only because I really need them for hybridizing -- they are outstanding parents that produce gorgeous offspring. And no, I'm not rich -- just a retired public school teacher.

Jim -
I do like daylilies, but I can understand your sense of wonderment at spending big money for a swizzle stick sized fan of a new intro. Like a minority of posters, I'll buy local - they might not be the latest but they're "new to me" and by mid season I've often lucked into really nice specimens in the $7.99 and under range. And very often with many fans that could be split to increase my stock.

While I don't have to bargain hunt, that's part of the fun. And I also have a large yard - if I spent hundreds on daylilies alone, I might overlook joining the hunt for hostas (if you think the daylily folks are addicted, check out the hosta forum), iris, peonies, sedums, lilies, conifers, trees, and shrubs, etc., etc.

People indulge their hobbies to whatever level they want to take it. And by and large it almost has to be a personal enrichment/satisfaction thing - the average someone walking by and admiring their gardens probably couldn't tell a Princess Diana from a Prince Albert in a Can.

So I say, without committing daylily heresy, if you find something interesting at Home Depot or a local garden center - go for it. I doubt you'll be too unhappy.

Not rich with money, just saved for a very long time.

I'm finally to the planting stage of a full landscape that I've been dreaming about and saving for over the past 12 yrs. DL are a big part of it but I've also ordered old garden roses, spring bulbs, shrubs, and perennials for spring planting in '08 and this is definitely just the start.

My first daylilies were ditch lilies given to me about 10 yrs ago while I was an unemployed returning student. Then Stella De Oro from (dare I say it) Home Depot. Then a few "unknowns" from the local daylily society. I learned they are a plant that can actually thrive here in this harsh environment even if I should neglect them.

I came to garden web forums this fall to start trading for more plants on the exchanges...something I did 11 yrs ago but stopped because I could not grow anything here until I had the sprinkler system installed...which came late this summer.

Only now, with the full planting in process, have I discovered the glorious range of plant characteristics offered by these tough plants. I still prefer $10 and under, and really love the simple form of some of the older cultivars, but have paid up to $25 for a plant I really want. I also bought seeds on the auction as a means to get some of those fancy, expensive genes into my garden at a price I'm willing to pay.

Some of it you could also consider an investment in my future. Finally free to pursue my love of gardening again (with the water system in), I've decided to make a career change and am researching the garden industry as a potential direction. I'm learning all I can about this niche in the market as well as others that interest me. I'm practicing my propagation techniques again (in part to fill my garden at low cost). I'm looking at potential garden businesses to buy.

One of the most compelling confirmations I have received that this is a direction I want to pursue is what wonderful, thoughtful, and generous people gardeners have proven to be as I've interacted with them on these gw forums. Not only have they freely shared information and sources, but some of the people I've traded plants with have been so amazingly generous. I can't begin to thank everyone here enough.

Eat lots of Ramen noodles :)

Buying pricy daylilies? New intros? Guilty as charged

But NOT pricy or new exclusively. People who suggest you look at older ones are correct: many of these are lovely, lovely plants.

But how to choose them?

To see large collections of all sorts of daylilies, I highly recommend that next summer you visit all the AHS display gardens in your area. I don't have many near me, but there is one I visit several times a season. I take pictures, write down names on my wish list....

what's interesting about that is that a large majority of the ones I like the best ARE older, and therefore usually cheap. I've photographed $6 ones, $12 ones, $20 ones.

That leads me to another point. Everyone has an upper limit, and, from what you've posted, yours is under $20. I really suggest you loosen the budget strings a little! Sure, there are nice plants for $5, but $20 will really give you a nice group of potential buys. Think of it this way: people are perfectly willing to go out to eat because they don't feel like cooking, spend a minor fortune to see the latest movie at the theatre rather than wait to be able to see it at home. If your hobby is sports, you probably don't have any problem spending a lot of money on clothing and equipment. Same with photography. Tools for your shop. etc etc etc. Daylilies are just another hobby!

I have found that there are more than a few wonderfully generous sellers on the LA. Occasionally I was amazed at what I would find tucked in with a few of my DL buys. Gift fans of 'Moment In The Sun', 'Judy Farquhar', 'Eight Miles High', and even a fan of 'Larry's Obsession'. I emailed all these people back to thank them for their generosity which was over and above what I would have ever expected considering some of the plants I bought were not all pricey buys. A few other sellers gave me an extra fan or two of the DL's I'd won from them on the LA. Like was stated earlier....so many of the DL people are rich in generosity, humour, and understanding.

Jim, I spend much less on daylilies than my mother does on cigarettes. My "bad habit" is also not bad for my health.

Edward

Very good Edward it is my DH that uses cigarettes and I know I spend way less on daylilies. I actually am quite conservative on what I spend on daylilies and only have a few that where a bit pricey although no new introductions yet. I have been working on my garden for many years adding a little each year.

There's no need to spend big bucks if you just want a beautiful garden full of dependable big clumps in clear colors and interesting shapes that will stop passing cars and make your heart sing. I just browsed Ida Flynn's updated website and you couldn't go wrong with any of her many $5 offerings.

I think most people, unless they have total control, have some sort of vice. Some go to movies, some shop, cigarettes and food for others, bass fishing, the list goes on. They all have their spending levels as do daylily folk. As others have said, there are a lot of fine plants out there for $5-$10. Like any other facet of life, if you have more money you usually spend more depending upon where you want to spend it. I don't live in a fancy house and my car's 13 years old. I do have some 2007 intros coming in this spring though....

Janet

Jim, nope, not by a long shot.

I'm focusing on northern hardy dormants and semi-evergreens and since only a couple years into this new hobby, staying with the tried and true for now and keeping track of what survives up here.

Homestead Farms sent awesome plants in spring, 2007. I like Wilds older varieties, but their plants are smaller so takes them longer to get established IMO. Daylily Haven I can't recommend as I had multiple problems with them spring, 2007. Found one nursery about 20 miles away that had a couple good varieties. Plan on doing more searching in the state this year to see what's out there and of course, checking what's out there on the web recommended by folks on the forum here.

Do what works for you.

I've spent 250 on one little daylily, before, and I am not "rich". Well, other than in name, anyway.

I might mention that the next year I divided my plant and sold some as well as using the pollen to make seeds, which I also sold (while keeping some for myself). The subsequent year I did the same, and so instead of spending 250 on a plant, I have MADE some money on the plant. Now, making money is not my primary goal here, but I am able to purchase new intros every year by selling some and using the proceeds to buy new.

Here's how daylily economics work: The top hybridizers grow thousands, if not tens of thousands of seedlings each year. From these they select their very best to release. Since they are growing so many seedlings, though, they have spent a huge amout of labor making the crosses, keeping track of the crosses, sowing the seeds, fertilizing the seedlings, planting out the seedlings, watering and spraying the growing plants, roaming their fields to tag the best ones, digging these up again to keep, and culling the thousands that they don't keep. Now, if they are doing this for a living, they aren't going to turn around and sell their new releases for 10 bucks. They would be in the poor house if they did that.

What people are paying for when they plunk down that hudred bucks (or more)isn't just one plant, but all the effort that went into making that one plant. In addition, I would say relatively few pay that amount of money for just a pretty face, planting it in their garden to watch it grow. Most are like me in using the plant to hybridize, or at least dividing the plants in subsequent years for sale to others. That 200 plant the first year gets divided and a fan is sold off for, say, 80. The year after that a double fan for 50. The year after that, two double fans for 35 each. Some hold their value more than others depending on supply (the faster they clump up and produce lots of fans, the more in supply) and demand (folks love those toothy ones esp), and so if a person is carefull with what they buy, afording those expensive plants is a snap.

No, I'm not rolling in money here either. Most of my daylilies are from the "under $20" range, and many were under $10. I'll be spending less on daylilies this year, simply because I've run out of room, and I've got many seedlings coming on and many seeds yet to sow. But I've seen many great plants that cost more than I choose to spend. I'm waiting for a few to come down in price so I can indulge, and I might have to wait another year or two for them. I'm not in a rush. Sure, I'd love to hybridize more seriously with some newer varieties, but time/space/money are all big factors for me. I love the older cultivars, and I'm happy with their hardiness and beauty. I've gotten some really nice bonuses with orders (things I would not normally spend the money on), and that's always a nice surprise.

So, I spend what I'm comfortable with, and stop when I'm done. I enjoy what I have and try to grow them well. I really enjoy admiring the daylilies posted by everyone on this forum.

Laurel