beckygardener said: where does the pink petals come from? No "pink" back through the 4th generation. Could Celestial Eyes be pink? If so, would that petal color be considered a "recessive" gene?
We do not know very much about daylily genetics. Formally, scientifically we basically do not know anything about the genetics of daylilies.
The following is what I think happens with eyezones and the remainder of the petal.
I think that the same colour (pigment) or colours that are in the eyezone are always also in the main part of the petal. Sometimes the amount/concentration of that colour (or pigment) is enough for the human eye to notice the colour and sometimes it is so low that the human eye cannot notice it (or them when there is more than one pigment involved).
As a simple test comparison, on a day before two flowers are gong to open on the same daylily, take one of the flower buds the night before and put it into a little water in a glass in the refrigerator. During the next day compare the flower colours on the flower in the refrigerator and on the flower outside. On another day repeat the test but this time put the unopened bud in a glass with a little water in a location in total darkness and compare the flower in the dark with the one outside several times during the next day. Depending on the flower colour (try this with lighter flower colours rather than dark reds and purples) there will be significant (surprising?) differences.
The next part of the idea is that the number of copies of a particular 'gene' (more precisely 'allele') the more pigment is produced in the flower. This is called quantitative inheritance (continuous) rather than qualitative inheritance (all or none). The more pigment in the flower then the darker, more intense the colour.
Let's say that 'Celestial Eyes' carries two copies for the 'pinkish-lavenderish?' colour. 'Solar Blue Angel' and 'Jamaican Love' might both carry one copy. 'Dragonfly Dawn' could end up carrying one copy. The end result is that ZZZ66 could carry anything from one to two copies. If it carries just one copy then it might look similar to its parents but if it carries two it might look like its great-grandparent.
