No hurt feelings here - thanks for everyone's comments.
I have no delusions that I am going to hit gold on my first crosses, lol. I know from (daylily) experience all about having to grow lots of seedlings to get one even halfway decent seedling. I also know (again, daylilies) about lookalikes and all of that. (No, I have no daylily introductions, nor registrations. After many years I am still dithering over one particular diploid, but did not and most likely will not register it because I feel the plant has some faults.)
I agree wholeheartedly that one should not go into hybridizing with the *expectation* of having anything suitable for introduction. It is all about the fun, satisfying the intellectual itch, and having something different and (as one former co-worker put it) "new and exciting" to look forward to each year. It is about playing a small role in bringing something hopefully beautiful (or at least nice) into existence, even if that something never escapes beyond the garden gates.
All of that said... I have an idea what constitutes good budcount and branching for a daylily (and the various factors which can affect these traits). I have read about what constitutes good budcount for an iris. But can someone please point me somewhere for examples of what constitutes good (and bad) branching for an iris?
