The Happy returns blossom is shaped a lot like Stella De Oro but the blossom is a little larger. The plant is larger than Stella also. You can see the bright yellow from a distance. It catches your attention. I don't have a picture on my cell but I'll take one of the plant in noon day sun when it blooms this year. My Happy Returns blossom was open by 8 a.m. I have no idea why it would open at 5pm for someone else. That doesn't sound right.

This pic I found online looks correct for the fully open HR blossom...

So, from that picture, if it is fully opened, then the bloom does have a bit of a chalice shape.

Yes. A shallow trumpet look. The petals never curl back behind the blossom the way that some day lilies do.

Still very pretty and noticable.

Sometimes I see what appears to be "Happy Returns" selling in the big box stores under the name Stella De Oro.

I know it's not Stella because Stella is more golden and her leaves are more slender than "Happy Returns".

For someone who is not very familiar with the mainline varieties... they would think the "Happy Returns" was Stella De Oro because both are small and yellow plus "Happy Returns" blooms well enough one could easily think it was the ever blooming Stella.

I have Happy Returns in my garden. I was disappointed with it because it is supposed to be fragrant and I can't smell anything. Other than that it comes back every year. It is short though--I mostly like taller daylilies.

Happy Returns is lightly scented. You won't detect any fragrance when you walk past it but if you put your nose right up to the blossom. The scent is there. It's not my favorite day lily but it is reliable when you want COLOR.

I recommend Happy Returns if you have that one small sunny spot/corner that needs a splash of bright lemon sunshine color to complete the visual effect.

(Because it does rebloom)

Happy Returns is a reliable daylily in my garden. It outperforms Stella. Stella is the first to send up scapes, but Happy Returns quickly follows. It has a longer bloom season than Stella and reblooms quicker. I prefer the butter yellow of Happy Returns to Stella's orange/gold. HR forms clumps quickly. I find it pretty equal in size to Stella. It makes a great border daylily. Putting it next to May Night salvia makes a great combo. Buttery yellow and luscious grape!




May your garden be a source of joy!

This is a great producer, blooms all summer, then takes a little break and starts again in the late Summer. Its yellow blooms add a cheerful note to the garden and I will always include it in my Daylily selection. It was one of the first Daylilies I added to my beds., and continues to bloom after 18 years.

Happy Retuns has been a solid performer for me. One of the first to bloom in my garden with lots of small bright yellow blooms. I've had some in pots to hide the base of rain barrels.

Happy Returns is, well, a happy bloomer and a great rebloomer. I prefer it's yellow color to the yellow gold of Stella D' Oro. It seems to stand a little taller than Stella as well. A great Daylily for beginners or newbies to growing these plants, as it is consistently reliable with it's cheery yellow blooms. It is one of the 1st daylilies to open in my garden.

I love this daylily. Not because its the prettiest but because its such a trooper. In my zone 4 it out performs Stella in every single way. First to bloom, almost no rest period between reblooms and it keeps going way into fall. I have seen her bloom with 4 inches of snow on the ground late into the fall. Scapes reach above the foliage, not by much but its above. Increases steadily. Nice lemon yellow flowers and is very pod fertile..the bees and butterflies love it.

Happy Returns is one I had at my old house. I added Big Time Happy, which is a descendant, I believe. BTH is bigger than HR, but otherwise I had a tough time telling them apart. Both have 18" scapes, the colors are very similar, etc. Does anyone have a good way of telling them apart?

I ask, because as I said I had both at my old house. I moved out gradually, but plants were dug and not labeled from Oct-Feb. In spring it was well nigh impossible to tell which was which.

Following 2 more moves, I'd assumed my Happy Returns plants were lost. I saw it on a clearance rack at Lowe's, and bought it. NOW I'm noticing that I have some coming up and blooming that don't look quite like Big Time Happy, but definitely aren't anything else. So...long story short...don't spring for a replacement til you know something is really gone!

Seedfork said: So far no sign of Happy Returns returning, it has never done well here in my garden, always just barely hanging in there.

I had a similar experience with Happy Returns, which I bought in 2019 as part of my first large daylily order from Oakes. It did bloom, but then it dwindled, and I finally dug up what was left of it and gave it away. On the plus side, it did not show any rust while it was in my garden even though it was right next to a rust bucket.

I got Happy Returns from a big box store in 2010 and put it in two spots in the front of my house where I needed a short plant. Happy Returns has multiplied very well, but I don't get much rebloom, which makes me wonder if (and probably so) my plant was a result of tissue culturing. Can a true Happy Returns plant even be found anymore?

The question was asked about it being nocturnal and my plant does not show evidence of being nocturnal. I've never seen it trying to open the night before. This picture still has spent blooms on it from the days before. It does appear to have a slight trumpet shape to it. It it sitting next to Siloam Double Classic (registered at 16" height), so the height is right at about 20".
6/10/2014 - this picture was taken around 4:30pm and based on other pictures it had rained, so the petals are looking thin and worn.



8/16/23 - I did get two polys on the same day this year on one of the few rebloom scapes. The clump is looking worn and tired and is almost done except for a few more blooms on this lone scape.

It looks like Happy Returns, Vickie, but as it is from a box store, who knows? Years ago I bought several plants of Stella de Oro from Lowe's, and I know now that not all of them were Stella. Several plants had a distinctive darker marking that Stella does not have. I gave them all away and later received Stella as a bonus from a real daylily vendor. No doubt about this one.

I know Oakes sells Happy Returns if you want to do a comparison.

Excellent review as always!

Thanks, Nan!

Pretty interesting about the thoughts about tissue culture. I have often said I would MUCH rather have an all season bloomer like Happy Returns... then Stella d' Ora...I like the upright form and it just blooms and blooms. I'm trying to think if I have ever purchased a dl from Lowes and don't think I have so can't really comment on their use of tissue culture. It is always the first to bloom, and usually one of the last to bloom...so it stays with its' simplistic bright yellow blooms that always make me happy when first appearing in the spring.