The cristate forms such Bee's Bettie Sue, Texas Feathered Fancy, etc. are inconsistent because of the genetic basis of the cristation. They suffer from what is called 'variable expressivity'. That means the cristate appearance varies in each flower that is produced. It can vary from no cristation in some flowers to full cristation in others and anything in-between. It is not known what causes the variability.
The variability is part of the genetic bases for the cristation. It also results in what is called 'incomplete penetrance'. This means that some daylilies that genetically should show cristation will never show it. Incomplete penetrance may simply be the extreme version of variable expressivity. That is, a daylily that is genetically cristate may show cristation in 100% of its flowers or in any percentage down to 0% or in none of its flowers.
I have both Bee's Bettie Sue and Texas Feathered Fancy (TFF) and I am in zone 4. Both rarely show cristation in any flowers here. I have had no problem growing the first TFF I received but a second plant of TFF I received suffered spring sickness after its first winter here and did not survive its second spring as a tiny single fan (as small as a newly sprouted seedling).
Daylily dormancy and winter cold. There is no scientific evidence that dormant daylilies require winter cold. The available scientific evidence indicates that dormant daylilies, for example, Stella de Oro can grow and flower without winter cold.
