I need help in describing daylily blooms in order to find them in the data base (by bloom description alone). I have mentioned this before but it seems people trying to help wanted the height, date of registration ect. I understand that is necessary for an ID, but right now I am just trying to learn how to properly describe blooms.
Is there a certain order the colors are listed in, should the petal color come first then the color of the eye then the watermark etc.
Is there a FAQ somewhere describing how to do this? Where is there a place to include the midrib color in the data base? Some descriptions seem to include the midrib in the description others don't even though it might have a obvious white midrib (only midrib color I remember seeing). Are there only certain basic colors used in the descriptions, why is yellow so often called green, in other words I am at a total loss when I try to put in a bloom color description. Surely there must be some standard method of entering this information.

Seed, there is no easy answer to this question. The color descriptions are how the hybridizer has written the description for registration. Some hybridizers take the time to write really detailed descriptions of the color and markings, listing various shades or colors in a multicolor eye for instance. Other hybridizers may just say "with an eye" or with a "multicolored eye". Sometimes there is a problem with misuse of terms, calling something an eye when it should be watermark, or eye when the bloom has a band. Self is another commonly misused term. The most common way of listing seems to be the overall or base color is listed first then the markings, eyezone, midrib, edge...the texture may be added, velvet or creped for example... throat color is typically listed last.

Registration has been so much better since Kevin Walek became registrar ( for Kevin!). Prior to this written descriptions were...changed/shortened...leaving out details in a blooms appearance. Kevin allows the hybridizer to describe all the blooms details, if they desire, something which is very important for registration. Hybridizers send in the completed registration form with an image to represent each cultivar. Daylilies do not require a bloom to be preserved for accurate identification, many genus do, or get as detailed as say Passiflora where every part of the bloom is carefully measured (and they have a lot of parts!)

I wrote an article in 2012 for ATP called Daylilies, a Rainbow of Color, http://garden.org/ideas/view/C...
this may help clarify what some of the descriptive terms mean in relation to color and placement on a bloom...but even if you know the terms it can still make a search difficult if a hybridizers description doesn't include them or uses them incorrectly. Adding in the other descriptions such as height, size, ploidy etc. helps to narrow down a search. With all the eyes ( human ) and cultivar knowledge here on ATP we appear to have a pretty good percentage for identifying NOID's for folks

Not sure this answered your question completely...

Char,
"Sometimes there is a problem with misuse of terms, calling something an eye when it should be watermark, or eye when the bloom has a band. Self is another commonly misused term."
"...but even if you know the terms it can still make a search difficult if a hybridizers description doesn't include them or uses them incorrectly."
Yes, this explains a lot of the confusion I have experienced.


"The most common way of listing seems to be the overall or base color is listed first then the markings, eyezone, midrib, edge...the texture may be added, velvet or creped for example... throat color is typically listed last."
I would have thought the specific order would have been required, guess not(no wonder I could not figure it out), doesn't seem right texture should be listed with color, but they didn't ask me.

Thanks, all that helped me realize I need to really limit the things I put in the color box and keep it very basic and not try to narrow the choice down very much with the use of this box. I was hoping to be able to have a more exact color description order.