Good morning. Now that it's daylily season, I wanted today's newsletter to be about Dr. Daylily, as he's been called many times. On May 21st of this year, a man passed away who you probably didn’t know by name, but most likely have one of the plants he hybridized. Dr. Darrel Apps created over 450 daylily varieties, including:

• ‘Happy Returns’

• ‘Rosy Returns’

• ‘Apricot Sparkles’

• ‘Just Plum Happy’

• ‘Red Hot Returns’

• ‘Earlybird Cardinal’

• ‘Pardon Me’

Almost all of us have had one of these in our gardens. They're some of the best reblooming daylilies on the market. Nearly every yard and commercial planting had either ‘Stella d'Oro’ or ‘Happy Returns’ in the beds. ‘Happy Returns’ is favored because it had a brighter yellow and the same all-summer blooming habit and still considered one of the 5 best daylilies in history. One of the few perennials that bloom like an annual. Most daylilies bloom for 20 to 30 days. Apps' varieties went for 120.

But before we talk more about his hybridizing, let’s talk about the man.

My dream job has always been to be a plant hybridizer. It checks all my boxes. You can make your own schedule, create beautiful plants, and make a great living if one of your plants becomes a hit. Most people don’t realize that many plants have licensing fees of 50 cents or more paid to the breeder. A good plant can sell millions a year. A few hits, maybe even one, and you can play in the garden forever.

Darrel owned Woodside Gardens, one of the larger perennial nurseries on the East Coast, and of course it was known for daylilies. He grew up in Wisconsin, earned his PhD from Wisconsin, taught and did research in Kentucky, and eventually settled in New Jersey. He started breeding daylilies in 1969 and at his peak grew over 500,000 daylilies on his farm, with 300 to 400 in testing to become the next great daylily. Darrel would open Woodside once a year for a daylily fest, and over the years it became an annual destination. It was also a big part of how he made a living.

As good of a breeder as Darrel was, he was also a pioneer in monetizing his plants. Every year he sold off most of his 500,000 daylilies at $8 or more each. He also formed a marketing partnership with Centerton Nursery in the same town to create and market the “Happily Ever Appster Series,” which included the varieties above and his newest releases. Centerton paid Dr. Apps to be the exclusive distributor for the first few years of each new release. And it worked. Centerton sold over 200,000 8-inch pots of Dr. Apps’ varieties. That’s $1-2 million a year. Add in the licensing fees for all his varieties and I don’t think it’s exaggerating to say he made $3+ million a year in profit from his "fun little hobby."

He was also one of the first to use “social proof” in plant marketing. He and Centerton created the “Trophytakers” label, which they put on daylilies they considered superior. When customers saw that label, they instantly trusted the quality because Dr. Apps said it was better.

In 2007, Dr. Apps retired and moved back to his home in Wisconsin. He sold the nursery to his 20-year partners at Centerton, who have continued his work using his breeding stock and genetics. His varieties are still being released, as he had hundreds in progress at the time of his retirement.

I have a funny story about Dr. Apps. I had always wanted to talk to him, and someone I knew gave me his number. So I called him and said, “Hi Dr. Apps, this is Shane.” I did what so many scammers do—act like you know the person and hope they won’t admit they don’t remember you, so they just keep talking. I wasn’t trying to scam him of course just learn more from the greatest daylily breeder in history since I had him on the phone.

We actually had a great conversation. With all the questions I asked, he probably thought I was either a reporter or a big fan. I’m sure he had thousands of those over the years. He was as kind and passionate about daylilies that day as he must have been 40 years earlier. I remember one thing very clearly. I told him I was excited about one of his new daylilies and he told me not to get too excited or buy too many. He had a better red one coming out the next year. It bloomed longer and had a truer red. He had just put the current one out to get a decent red on the market.

That’s when I learned how the new variety game works. There’s always a better one around the corner. But we’re gardeners. If we waited for the next new variety, we’d never buy anything. Apple figured that out a long time ago. We’re suckers for good things and willing to buy another when the next one comes out. Plants are no different, and Dr. Apps (or maybe Centerton) were ahead of their time in understanding that.

So when you see a beautiful reblooming daylily, think of Dr. Apps. It might be his variety.

Dr. Darrel Apps’ Top 10 Daylily Introductions

1. Apricot Sparkles
Description: The Apricot color is alone worthy of growing but to get 80-100 days of it is a bonus. I use it to contrast the purples and blues and it also stands well against yellow
Height × Width: ~18″ × 15″
Release Date: 1990s (Happy Ever Appster series)

2. Happy Returns
Description: Similar to Stella de Oro but brighter yellow. One of the most used plants in all of the US where daylily can be grown. Can’t kill it and blooms forever
Height × Width: ~18–20″ × 16″
Release Date: Early 1990s

3. Just Plum Happy
Description: Deep plum-purple flowers with reliable rebloom and grows incredibly fast. This took the garden centers by storm in early 2000s as people realized there were long rebloomers other than yellow

Height × Width: ~18″ × 15″
Release Date: 1990s

4. Rosy Returns
Description: I promise these are more pink than Just Plum Happy. But it did kill sales of Plum Happy when it came out. An either or thing for most customers. I have these at the base of my pillars on a stone wall and they are spectacular
Height × Width: ~18″ × 15″
Release Date: Late 1990s

5. Red Hot Returns
Description: Bright red flowers with a compact form and nonstop summer blooming. The reddest of Dr. Apps reblooming introductions. I have always liked the neon green center of this one. I would put this in Top 10 daylilies. Take out the reblooming and it doesn’t make top 25 but quantity often trumps quality.
Height × Width: ~18″ × 15″
Release Date: 1990s

6. Stephanie Returns
Description: Clear pink flowers with excellent rebloom but never really caught on in the garden centers. I have no idea why. The blooms are fantastic and it blooms its heart out. Some of the issues were that Centerton had the rights to sell for the first 2 years before it opened up, and maybe growers moved on. I could never find starts but I wish we had grown more. They would have sold
Height × Width: ~18″ × 15″
Release Date: 1990s

7. Earlybird Cardinal
Description: Early blooming cardinal-red flowers on a tetraploid plant. This one always bored me. It sold well but I couldn’t find a color fit. Wasn’t red red and the plums were too close. I let this one sell itself but I never put it in any gardens.
Height × Width: ~24–26″ × 18″
Release Date: Early 2000s

8. Pardon Me
Description: Deep red with a round flower form; vigorous and dependable rebloom. This was the opposite of Earlybird Cardinal. I put Pardon me in almost every job. It essentially is the Red Happy Returns. Blooms incredibly long and bright yellow center made the red flowers pop. My goto red daylily even after newer introductions. Don’t get me started on the double form. In Credible
Height × Width: ~20″ × 18″
Release Date: Early 2000s

9. The Jury’s Out
Description: Bright Yellow and one plant can have 60 blooms on it at once. Might be the most floriferous of all the daylilies. Plants get tall at 3 feet so back of the garden but don’t look or act like a ditch lily when they bloom.
Height × Width: ~30″ × 36″
Release Date: Early 2000s

10. Woodside Romance
Description: Soft pink blooms with rose undertones; clean and tidy. One of the softest pinks of all reblooming daylilies. You can see there was a full color pallette in Dr. Apps introductions. You needed a color and a rebloomer. He eventually got you your plant.
Height × Width: ~20″ × 16″
Release Date: Early 2000s

Bonus Daylily

My Sweetheart Returns
Description: Soft rose-pink blooms with a lemon-yellow throat. Free-flowering and long blooming with excellent rebloom in midsummer. No other way to describe this other than its just pretty. It’s a pink flower set in a cream flower. You need at least one of these in your yard. Wasn’t as popular as I thought it would be but that doesn’t mean its not great.
Height × Width: ~18″ × 15″
Release Date: 1990s (Happy Ever Appster series)

A Picture is Worth a Hundred Words

Hope you enjoyed the walk down Daylily Street. Heading to garden walk tonight so I should have more great pictures and ideas for you next weekend. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND and thanks for reading…..Make sure to tell your friends about this newsletter and have them sign up. I write it once, but it’s good for a few thousand views 😀



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