So the I've found the daylily community fantastic! I've had a few discussions about bearded hybridizing with some great folks. One hybridizer I talked to gave me these 6 tips. What I thought was incredible was the three different styles that he's seeing develop in his breeding program. I also really appreciate his insight. I wanted to share with anyone who has interest in bearded/sculpted cristate flowers.
1) You'll get more cristate seedlings crossing 2 cristates...BUT...you'll also have more fertility problems , especially if you line breed.
2) Outcrosses are problematic too. Sometimes you lose ALL of the cristation, other times you see partial expression. Still, it's worth keeping and using the best of those partial cristates and maybe even the non-cristates if they are really great plants because they are carriers of the trait, though recessively.
3) Some might disagree but I see cristates segregating out into 3 styles in my program...A) cristate hairy/bearded, B) cristate feathered/plumed...C) cristate rayed/threaded. There are some blooms that blur the lines between these 3 styles but still, that's what I see. I'll attach photos.
4) Cristate hairy/bearded results from only crossing cristate x cristate for me. Cristate feathered/plumed can result from either cristate x cristate or cristate x non-cristate. Cristate rayed/threaded is only from outcrosses for me.
5) Read a lot, look at a lot of blooms, study pedigrees...then follow your heart.
6) plain old cristate is gonna get old quickly...start combining traits as soon as possible. Patterns, stripes, color changing, teeth...all are possible avenues to explore immediately with cristates to make your own program unique.
