Goodness! The AHS has prepared much information about this subject, which can be found at this link:
http://www.daylilies.org/Enter...
Yes, correct, as a Senior Exhibition Judge, I along with other accredited judges, am bound to judge daylilies according to their registration data and the point scoring data that we are trained to use. Over the past few years, our judging Panels have frequently checked the database while judging if none of us are familiar with the cultivar (s).
Usually I do a quick walk through of all sections to be judged by our panel before the panel begins judging just to look at everything in those sections we are assigned to judge. When I am chairing the judge's panel, there have been quite a few instances when I or another judge spotted a cultivar that needed to be moved to a different section. ( better to spot it and get it moved BEFORE the judging begins!) The classification chair is then called over and asked to re-check the registration data and if the cultivar has been placed in an incorrect section, then it is moved to the correct section. At one show I judged last year, there were at least four cultivars improperly placed in the three sections my panel judged. All of them needed to be moved elsewhere. It is good that we spotted them before we began judging, because they mostly were moved to sections that other panels of judges were judging. Sometimes this issue also comes up: A judge sees an entry that he or she KNOWS to be the incorrect cultivar. It is usually not the fault of the exhibitor. Perhaps they bought the cultivar in good faith and it was labeled incorrectly. We have to mark those entries as "judged," ( no ribbons) but if I'm chairing the panel, I make a note on the entry form that it is the incorrect cultivar. If one of us thinks an incorrect cultivar is being shown, we ALWAYS look it up and compare it with the database image to be sure.
Exhibitors should not enter cultivars which would not show true to form according to the way the cultivar is registered. For example, if a cultivar is registered as a single bloom and that day it is blooming with extra petaloid material or perhaps is a polymerous bloom, do NOT BRING IT to the exhibition. Judges would have to deduct point(s) because this is considered a fault. It is extremely informative to take the Exhibition Judges Clinics, even if you don't become an exhibition judge. I highly recommend it! I've come to really enjoy judging shows, although it involves a lot of time and travel. This year I've decided to take the year off from traveling to Regional and National meetings, and from judging shows. ( I've been away from my own garden for at least 4-5 weekends in a row during peak bloom season and have barely gotten to enjoy my garden for at least the past four years.) Sadly, this decision meant I've had to turn down invitations to judge in at least 4 shows. Hopefully next year, I'll feel more like traveling. This year, am staying at home and enjoying my garden!
