Daylily Sticker Shock
If you are new to daylilies, the price of some varieties may give you “sticker shock”. I
understand this completely. One may ask, why do they cost so much? Let me try to
explain.
The first daylily I purchased was Stella De Oro. I think I paid around $7 for a small pot
about ten years ago. A few years later I purchased a few more for about the same price.
After I attended a plant sale of The Conn. Daylily Society I decided to join the American
Hemerocallis Society. Shortly thereafter I began receiving many catalogs with prices of
$50, $100 and more for new plants. I was astounded they would cost that much.
Then I saw the first daylily that I felt I had to have—it was David Kirchoff’s Forty second
Street. What a beauty! I paid the unheard of sum of $40 to get it. I would be afraid to tell you
how much I have spent on daylilies since then.
Since I have started hybridizing I can understand why new daylilies are pricey. There is so
much labor involved in introducing a new plant. Hybridizers produce thousands of new
seedlings each year and select only a few to be introduced. Perhaps one of every 500-
1,000 seedlings will ever reach market. Many hours are spent pollinating, harvesting,
starting seeds, transplanting, watering, fertilizing, weeding, spraying and evaluating
seedlings for performance. Record keeping is essential. Upon introduction there may be
from 5 to 50 of the plant in existence. Now I have trouble understanding how a hybridizer
can make an adequate living.
So when you see a new plant priced at $100 or more, try to imagine the work that went into
producing that plant. And remember the law of supply and demand—in a few years the
price will drop as the supply increases-so you always have the option of waiting! Forty
Second Street can now be found for about $5.