Local man grows business from gardening hobby

KENTON, Tenn. — What if you could make your hobby your livelihood? That’s exactly what one West Tennessee man did, turning his love for lilies into a business that stretches across the country.

“Everyone’s got a red one and a yellow one, but not everyone got a face like that,” said daylily farmer Danny Clanton.

He prides himself on breeding the most unique daylily he can. “The edges are almost like shark teeth.”

Gardening the lilies began as hobby about 15 years ago and since has turn into a business.

“Like anything else when your family finds out that that’s what you like, on birthdays, any special occasions , you get day lilies.”

He said he breeds about 3,000 daylilies each season but only about 1,800 survive.

“If I wanted to cross this flower with this one, I’d take that pollen and put that on the pistil right there, just dob it on there,” he said.

If the pollination is successful, it will take about 45 days for the seeds to mature.

“You plant them not knowing what you’re going to get.”

Daylilies get their name because each flower only lives a single day, but each plant could have about 20 flowers. Each year, that number could double.

“So they not only come back every year — they keep getting thicker and thicker,” Clanton said.

Clanton said he sells his flowers for as little as $6 or as expensive as $70 depending on how unique they are. He ships across 48 states.

Before he got into the flower business he worked construction, which he still does when he’s not working with the lilies.

Clanton will hold an open house for his lily farm on June 18 and 19. His farm is Consider Today’s Lilies located at 2 Preacher Dowland Road in Kenton.

You may contact Danny by email at considertodayslilies@gmail.com or by phone at 731-673-4412.

You can find more information about his lily farm at considertodayslilies.com.