My parents started just as you say--one day they put up a sign that said "Fancy Daylilies." They have a passing friendship with the guy who owns a BBQ place on the main road, and offered him some plants for his landscaping. Wisely choosing the best seedlings for friendship's sake, the BBQ guy got so many questions he put a little garden sign with their phone number. Then, they had to also put up a sign on their turn-off from the main road.

Business became brisk enough someone had to always be home since a couple of people would come every day, so they decided to push it and put an ad in the newspaper. Now my sister and teenage niece also have to be there every day of the season to help handle things.

This year mom is making a future registration bed for the first time. :)

I haven't done any of this yet but have been studying since last winter because I would eventually like to go into the nursery business.

Some people do well starting out by selling at a local farmers market. Contact the people who run the one near you to see what it takes to get a booth. Above some level of income you'll have to deal with dept of revenue for state or local sales tax so check into that too (applies whether you sell at home or some other venue). Then pot some up and head to the market. Plants that are not in bloom will sell better if they have pictures.

I suppose you could also sell bare root there if you figure out a good packaging method that keeps the roots hydrated. Would save on expense of potting soil & pots. Like I suppose you could put them in a large cooler or 5 gal buckets for each variety filled with water. Then when you sell a couple fans wrap the roots with damp newspaper & put in a platic shopping bag. Heal any leftovers into your garden between market days.

Another option is to sell them mail-order through something like the LA or ebay. Again, nice pictures of the bloom is an important part of success here, as is learning good packaging & shipping practices. Try buying a few from those sites to see how others processes work.

Patsy, what a great story. I hope your folks are doing well. I would like to do the same thing. I am personal friends with the Pediatrician in town, I know he would let me plant his place up with daylilies. Putting a sign out in front of the place was also the way I think I will start.

Berrytea4me, there is a street fair in my town but I still don't feel capable of pulling that off. I haven't started planting in pots yet and that will take some setting up for, but I was thinking of having a yard sale of just daylilies.

Thanks for the great ideas!

Mike

Mike, you should also check with your state Dept. of Agriculture. In TN it is illegal to sell plants without a nursery or grower's license. I just found this out recently (after having a plant sale). Of course, MANY plants are sold at yard/garage sales here and no one seems to know or care about the state regulations. Even so, if you are going to do quite a bit of selling, it would be wise to check out your own state regulations.

Good Luck,

Ann

Take good pictures and sell them on the Lilyauction, many people sell there. There is a special section for seedlings.

Dot

http://www.daylily.com/cgi-bin/auction.cgi?seedlings