Thanks to you all for that very warm welcome! Thanks as well for all the references.
Yes, I joined AHS before I submitted 'Picotee Pumpkin' for registration.
And the LA...Oh my!!! Found that about three weeks ago. Ended up with three lovely cultivars and bid waaay higher than I intended to. A move that I found very helpful is to google the DL I'm interested in and compare prices on other websites. In some cases the same number of fans could be purchased elsewhere for a lower price (including postage).
Juli, the seedling appeared in an area where other DLs were growing, but not next to one. The first year it bloomed, I kind of harumpfed because it appeared to be just another orange daylily. I was about to compost it when I took a closer look. Am I ever glad I did! Thanks for suggesting that I visit display gardens. I'll be off to read your article when I finish here. I did visit the fields of two Iowa hybridizers in late spring, but that was before I hit on the idea of attempting to hybridize on my own, so I missed an opportunity to ask lots of questions. Of course, I can and will contact them to chat about their hybridizing experiences. In the meantime, I do want to contact a well-known authority on hybridizing and appreciate all the references in this thread. One of the things I discovered early on is not to go strictly by the photographs of a seller when purchasing a DL sight unseen. I always google the image of any online DL I'm thinking of purchasing. The variation in color and even form can be considerable. Then there is the issue of hardiness. I think your suggestion about seeing the DL in person is a wise one.
Betty, thanks to you as well for recommending that I go local.
