We don’t binge-buy from hybridizers as I have only purchased one collection since starting our serious collecting of modern daylilies in 2009. I buy selected cultivars only. I would more typically buy a couple of plants that would be similar from the same hybridizer. I buy several plants from the same source but usually buy from a grower with a selection from many hybridizers. As hybridizers, we collect some similar daylilies over a few years if they fit something we want to do in our program.
I have read of several gardens that have beds for specific hybridizers, but we don't organize that way. We do plant most new plants in new beds since our garden is continually expanding.
For the losses listed in my original message, here are specifics.
2015 loss of 3 K. Mitchell daylilies all in the same bed but not purchased at the same time. There were 30 plants in the bed but only these 3 died. They had been grown for 3-7 years.
2014 loss of 2 Carpenter daylilies which came from two different sources and not planted in the same bed and only survived one season.
Prior year loss of 6 or 7 R. Norris daylilies all in the same bed as I purchased his full diploid collection and all died after the first summer in the garden.
If i look at these losses, I see plants that were very similar genetics that died together.
If a hybridizer wants a certain look in their daylilies, they probably practice line breeding and inbreeding to get consistent results. This enhances the qualities they are breeding for. It also enhances any genetic flaws. Also it breeds out some of the hybrid vigor. This is where we arrive at some of the new looks in daylilies for patterns, blue eyes, double edges, etc.
I have studied certain small and mini daylilies that I have collected. I found the same cultivars showing in the pedigrees over and over. That is why they generally have very similar plant habits in our garden. I have certainly been attracted to these flowers from their pictures and descriptions and have collected them from several different sources. These are plants that I collected to use for hybridizing but after studying my lessons and seeing how they perform in my garden, I realize that crossing them together as I had planned, does not make good sense. I would just be reproducing the poor plant habits of the parents. I now realize that I have to cross these plants with completely different genetic lines to move forward.
