kousa said:Wish there is a book on daylily hybridizing. How do you go about narrowing your goals? There are so many desirable characteristics.
A.B. Stout's book "Daylilies" has much background information.
Setting goals may be a easy as listing what you like on a sheet of paper and then rating your list.
For me it was fairly easy: after getting hit by rust and finding it so repulsive,
I decided to hybridize primarily for rust resistance
here in Florida and maybe throw on some teeth if that was an option.
Of course, many are not yet affected by rust so this may not be an important sales point.
And I like plant foliage to double as "border grass" so foliage that remains attractive 365 days a year
(except for freeze/frost/dormancy) is another must have.
Plus, I like plants that are tough and don't need tender greenhouse type care;
plants that grab hold & boogie and bloom readily; plants that don't die from crown rot;
plants that don't need constant watering.
Someone once called daylilies "pretty weeds" and that is a desirable characteristic imo.
When I purchase a plant, I check it against my goals.
I don't expect my program to ever produce an award winner based primarily on flower uniqueness,
but it should provide strong plants that just about anyone could grow & enjoy.
