I'd like to add some Latvian Lily cultivars to the database. Specifically I was going to add a few from here (both from this years catalogue and the previous year): http://www.daugmaleslilijas.lv...

First question is if it is appropriate to add these at all? I assume these aren't registered and many if not all would only be available in small numbers.
Many of these also have special characters in the cultivar name. What are the rules about entering these in the database?

The Lilium moderator, @pardalinum, can answer your questions about the advisability of adding these cultivars to the database.

As for the foreign diacritical marks, they are not recognized by our system. Consequently, the names probably will be misalphabetized and they will not come up in a search for anyone not using the diacritical marks. The best option is to omit the marks in the cultivar name and add the name with the marks as an also-sold-as name. That way, it will come up in the search results whether people use the marks or not.

First, you must leave the special character marks off of the letters. As I understand it, the search engine here will not recognize them.

Now my take on entering them: We have not strictly followed any rule that requires a lily to be registered with the RHS, the official lilium registry. Many are registered in the KAVB, a Dutch breeders registry. If we were to only allow registered lilies, then many of Judith Freeman's lilies (The Lily Garden company) would be banned, as well as other breeders. Many of her lilies eventually get registered but it can be years after introduction.

The Latvian breeders have played a huge roll in the breeding of many of today's popular lilies. Think TANGO lilies for instance.

I say go ahead and enter the lilies that you consider appropriate. Maybe you are growing some of them? We can always accept additional lilies from this catalog as folks acquire them.

Many thanks for your excellent answers, Zuzu and Connie.

Yes, I have a few of these growing, Connie, so will be adding those I have reasonable quality images of first and now I know how to do this correctly.

I found this resource @pardalinum, that might be useful as it has a regional register, Lilly Growers Association Lilium Balticum: http://liliumbalticum.lv/regis...

Thanks for the link! I have bookmarked it for future reference.

I'm looking forward to your photos, William!