The discussion thread from 2013 is here:
The thread "24/7 Daylilies" in
Daylilies forum
But following links there, as well as by viewing the actual patent in the US patent office, it turns out that parentage of those daylilies is unknown, and there are no rust tests described or results noted to support the claim of rust resistance. The hybridizer, in blog posts, documents their full commercial fungicidal spray and dip program, which they elsewhere note will mask rust performance. Normally in a plant patent, if there were steps taken to asses plant health or performance, such as placing seedlings with non-spraying gardeners for observation, it would be noted in the description with results provided, but there are no indications that was done with the plants.
Plant patents only protect the sale and use of a particular cultivar - the patent office itself, and the assignment of a patent, does not make or infer any claim about resistance or rust performance. Since claims are not supported elsewhere in the patent through some type of documentation, a plant patent stands only as an account of the hybridizer's description, and not in any way a confirmation regarding performance. Again, preventive spraying to suppress the outward appearance of rust makes it impossible to directly observe a cultivar's actual performance, resistance, or susceptibility to rust.
