As a seed seller on the auction my advice is that you put the max bid your willing to pay with your original bid and stick with it.
In most cases the seller will have more of the same cross to list at a later time, if not they usually announce if it is a one time or only time listing.

As for buying unbloomed seedlings, the market is what someone is willing to pay for the genetics, I have bought a few myself with mixed results.
In the end I decided buying seeds were a better option for me, it make take a few more years to see bloom, but you get more seedlings and the price is usually lower excluding the crazy bidding you see from time to time.

The auction is a good place for getting plants or seeds if you can stay within your own limits, and if you get outbid don't take it personal, and whatever, do try to stay away from a bidding war unless money is no object. PS. That's not me

As a seller, bidding wars are nice for getting money to buy new plants, but I get a lot more personal satisfaction when somebody shows me a picture of a killer seedling they got using my seed.

Ed Burton, auction seller "gramps"

F-71 (Sandi Jacques x Angelique Fringes) TET, M M/L, 6.5 x 44, thickest scape in the yard, 3/4 way, 20+ buds in it's maiden bloom year of 2016.
Tooting my own horn here, but this was the best plant in the yard last summer

F-71! Ed, toot that horn!!! You deserve it

Thanks Vickie

Ed, that is the most beautiful white with yellow edged daylily that I have ever seen. I hope someday you will register it and sell it. I will be the first in line to order it.

Thanks Karen
If it looks like that next season I will for sure, the plant and scape were as good or better than the bloom so I'm really hoping

Ed put me on the list with Kousa. I love that seedling.

Thanks Mike

Ok all - I signed up for the Lily Auction (or so I thought) before I found this site. For whatever reason I never figured it out and couldn't buy the one I was looking at - I'm thinking that was probably a good thing since this site is addictive enough and I have increased my daylilies CONSIDERABLY just since I got on here

I am with you, Ginny! I don't know how it happened but I added 70 new daylilies this year! A few wants here, a few wants there, and it will add up! Then a few sales here, a few sales there, wow you just realize that your addiction is out of control.

profesora said:Pam, why are you waiting until March or April to start your seeds?

Gerry,

I read your response to Pam and I was wondering when you plant seeds? I'm assuming you plant them earlier and I was wondering what kind of seed sowing set up you use? Our zones are similar and without a greenhouse, I usually start my seeds indoors under lights around March. I'd appreciate any advice you have to offer....as getting a bloom sooner than later is great with me.

Thanks,
Cynthia

I know this is an older thread, but I can't help commenting about the crazy bidding on the LA.

Someone is selling a DF of Dan Trimmers Waves of Joy, and the price is now over 70.00, but Dan has it listed
for 50 in his catalog

Yes, People do get carried away sometime. I got carried away with some seeds purchase too when I first started. In spite of all my mistakes, I made some great buys.

I enjoy sometimes watching folks bid knowing they likely don't know you can search past sales for a daylily to see what they went for. I bought Waves of Joy on the LA a year or two ago for way less than they are bidding. The seller is making out very well and yes it is easy to get carried away some people want the daylily no matter what they end up paying. Most daylilies are listed again by someone else unless it is a rare one so it pays to be patient.

I enjoy watching as well. I cant imagine bidding without looking at the closed auctions list. I will say, depending on the seller, I might pay more, because I know I will get more, but I want all the info first, to make that choice. This did not come without making my own mistakes on the LA, thats for sure.

Yes, there was a perfect example yesterday. For weeks, I have seen this seller listed Smiling Cobra for $79.99 for SF. Nobody bid on it. Then last week the seller decided to list it at $9.99. A bunch of people bid on this, me included. Anyway, the Smiling Cobra that was listed for weeks at $79.99 that noone bid on was sold yesterday for $108. One wonders if the people who needed SC that much, why did they not bid on it when it was offered at $79.99. At least they might have been able to get it at $80 instead of $108.

Karen, I saw you on there yesterday, and saw where you got one really cheap. Way to go!

The one I wanted had people bidding against me in the last 5 minutes hoping I wasn't on there,
but I won't go that high unless I need it badly. Most generally I will pay a higher price and order it
from the grower instead. Ethics. I did get lucky with two though!

My problem is that here in very warm FL, I am only willing to purchase auction plants in Aug, Sept and possibly Oct. I need them delivered in late Oct or early Nov. If I plant later, the plants won't be established well enough to perform well in the spring. It certainly limits my purchases, but I only purchase from a few growers, all here in FL. And I didn't buy very many this year.

daylilydreams said: Most daylilies are listed again by someone else unless it is a rare one so it pays to be patient.

Betty, you are right on. It really pays to be patient when it comes to buying daylilies on the LA.

Deryll, thanks. I got some good buys yesterday. I am glad that you did too.

Arlene, if I live as close to the daylily hybridizers as you do, I will be perpetually broke. I don't think I can resist all the gorgeous new releases.

In the spring I took pics at Dan Trimmers. When I was there later in the year, I asked about a rose colored daylily that I really like. Well now it is potted up waiting for me to pick it up in March. It's a 2017. This year was a year to remove plants that didn't do well or did too well (they got divided and shared). There aren't many dogs out there now, so next year will have very few transactions! That's good news. Plus, I removed all the daylilies from one raised box and made it a garden that is beautiful and edible. What a deal! I'll go out and take pics and add to the Porch Swing.

Arlene, I second Karen's thought about living next to the Florida growers. I am sending an order to Dan this year,
but it is nice to find some on the LA that I can't afford otherwise. I mostly use them for pollen anyhow. When you go to
pick up your plants from Dan and Jane, check out some seedlings that I shared with them this year.