To me the perfect daylily would bloom extra early and rebloom, but so far I haven't had anything like that. I'm not sure if I have a favorite look, but I prefer large blooms. The little ones are really cute, but they aren't my favorite. I also love doubles that are one solid color. Two of my sibling seedlings this year are doubles (one yellow, one light orange) that are kind of small, and I really like them, so maybe I'm learning to love smaller blooms. I also really love gold dust, if that's what it's called. To me, it makes a plain bloom look extra special. I'd love to get a huge, deep pink bloom with a nice yellow edge that isn't so ruffled that it distorts the bloom. That would probably be my idea of perfect.
I also prefer daylilies that are good performers, which means that I can't see myself buying a new introduction. I want to know that others have had good luck with a daylily first. Of course I've seen some new introductions that I would love to have, but I also love Hyperion, and it's ancient! I used Hyperion a lot for hybridizing two years ago, which was my first year, and I've been happy with the results on the babies that it has produced. They may not be anything spectacular, but I got a gorgeous yellow seedling that looks much better than Hyperion, with soft ruffled edges, and it smells fantastic! To me, that's a good flower! I really love seeing the different blooms that hybridizers are coming up with, as far as color combinations, edges, and everything else, but sometimes they look too busy.
I think you'll find as many different opinions on what people like, as there are different daylilies.
