Happy Returns is a widely planted reblooming daylily with fragrant, 3-inch canary yellow flowers. It blooms heavily in early summer and then keeps producing flowers off and on until frost.
The compact plant has deep green, healthy foliage and is very heat tolerant, though it may pause during the hottest weeks. It is a reliable choice for edging, mass plantings and containers.
What it looks like
Small flowers about 3 inches across in clear lemony canary yellow throughout, with slightly crimped tepal edges. Each bloom lasts a day, but many buds open in turn on branched scapes rising to about 18 inches above a fountain of long, arching, strap-shaped deep green leaves. The foliage clump is about 11 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide. At peak bloom in early summer the compact clump is covered in small yellow flowers.
Growing it with lavender
Its lemon yellow flowers edge a lavender bed beautifully and tolerate the same sunny, well-drained conditions.
Care
Grow in full sun to light part shade (at least six hours of sun for the best bloom) in average, well-drained soil; once established it handles heat, clay and dry spells. Hardy in zones 3 to 9. Deadhead regularly and pull spent scapes to keep new buds coming, and divide crowded clumps every few years.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Hemerocallis
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Flower color: Canary yellow
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Foliage: Deep green
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Growth habit: Compact, arching clump
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Mature size: 18 in tall × 18–24 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Mid-June
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Peak bloom: Late-June
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Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
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Deer resistance: Susceptible
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Pollinator value: Good
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.