If a grower asks, I may give a list, but I never ask for a current or recent introduction, even if I am buying a $100 or more plant. When I ordered from Curt Hanson this fall, I just told him what I liked in plants (heights, colors, rust resistance (if he knew), good opening, forms). I will either like what he sends me, or I won't.
Sometimes, especially on the Lily Auction, if the grower doesn't state either way, I will specifically tell him/her "no gift plants, please". Partly this is because I really am at the point of "daylily in, daylily out" (excepting seedlings, of course). Partly this is because more often than not, lately, I have received plants for which I have no use or desire: diploids (even though I only bought/won tetraploids, and am trying to minimize the dips in my garden), daylilies much shorter than I want (or that would fit into my garden), colors (or color combinations) that I abhor, daylilies whose blooms won't open well here, or highly rust prone plants (which maybe brought their own rust into my garden - the "gift" that keeps on giving
).
I do have to say that
sometimes I forget to state the "no gift plants, please" mantra, and I have been pleasantly surprised with what I got ('Linda's Magic' was one such plant, and it was just what I needed). And sometimes the grower just ignores the mantra and sends gift plants anyway!
