Happy Returns Daylily – Hemerocallis ‘Happy Returns’ (Reblooming Yellow Daylily, Live Starter Plants)

Happy Returns Daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Happy Returns’) is one of the most beloved reblooming perennials you can grow — and it’s easy to see why. Cheerful, lightly ruffled, canary-yellow flowers rise on slender 18-inch stems above a tidy clump of arching, grass-like foliage. As an extra-early bloomer, it opens in late spring or early summer and just keeps coming back, flush after flush, right through to frost. Tough, compact, and almost foolproof, the Happy Returns Daylily brings months of sunny color to borders, edges, and containers with very little effort.

Why Grow Happy Returns Daylily?

• Months of cheerful color – lemon-yellow flowers rebloom from early summer all the way to frost.
• Compact & tidy – a neat 18-inch mound that’s perfect for the front of the border, edging, and containers.
• Tough & adaptable – drought-, heat-, and salt-tolerant once established, and even good for firescaping (fire-resistant landscaping).
• Pollinator-friendly – the flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees.
• Low-maintenance & long-lived – one of the easiest perennials there is, ideal for beginners.

Looking for more flowering color and edging plants? Browse our Flowering Plants and Groundcovers & Border Plants collections.

Plant Specifications at a Glance

• Botanical name: Hemerocallis ‘Happy Returns’ (reblooming daylily)
• Plant type: Herbaceous perennial (dormant in winter)
• Plant family: Asphodelaceae (the daylily family)
• Mature size: about 18 inches tall and 18 inches wide
• Flowers: Lightly ruffled, canary-yellow, ~3-inch blooms from early summer to frost (each flower lasts a day, replaced in steady succession)
• Foliage: Arching, grass-like green leaves in a tidy clump
• Notable traits: Reblooming; drought-, heat-, and salt-tolerant; pollinator-friendly; fire-resistant
• Cold Hardiness Zones: 3–9

Happy Returns Daylily Care & Growing Guide

This is about as easy as perennials get. Follow these guidelines:

• Sunlight: Full sun for the most flowers; it also takes part sun, where a little afternoon shade keeps the yellow from fading in intense heat.
• Water: Water regularly through the first growing season to establish a deep root system, then only occasionally — it’s drought-tolerant once mature, though it appreciates water during dry spells while blooming.
• Soil: Adaptable to a wide range of soils from moist to dry; prefers a fertile, well-drained loam.
• Cold Hardiness Zone: 3–9. It’s a dormant daylily that dies back and rests over winter, then returns vigorously in spring.
• Grooming: Deadhead spent blooms to keep it tidy, remove old foliage before new leaves emerge, and divide clumps every 2–3 years in early spring to keep the rebloom strong.

Good to know: daylilies are toxic to cats (they can cause serious kidney problems), so it’s best to keep this plant away from cats.

Ways to Use Happy Returns Daylily in the Landscape

• Front-of-border color and edging along paths and drives
• Mass plantings and perennial beds
• Containers and patio pots
• Slopes, groundcover, and naturalizing
• Tough urban sites and firescaping

It pairs beautifully with other sun-loving, easy perennials. Gardeners often combine it with the orange Orange Bulbine, fragrant Society Garlic, or the bright red Scarlet Sage.

What You’ll Receive

These are live Happy Returns Daylily starter plants grown and shipped by Carlo’s Plant Farm. Plants are less than 12 inches tall when we ship them. The photos in this listing depict mature plants of the correct species so you can see how they will look as they grow and bloom. Choose your preferred plant bundle size using the options above.

Due to different state laws, we reserve the right to charge extra fees in order to comply with those laws if necessary.

Ordering, Shipping & Returns

Every order ships free and is insured against loss or damage in transit. For full details on how we pack and send your plants, processing and delivery times, and what to do in the rare case of a problem, please review our Shipping Policy and Terms & Conditions before purchasing. By placing an order you agree to those terms.

Happy Returns Daylily FAQ