Thank you so much, Dave! :} All of the data and research from American Hemerocallis Society supported studies (and others) have continuously urged hybridizers to use detailed knowledge of cultivar resilience and susceptibility; both are valuable and necessary groups of cultivars needed for strengthening and broadening the overall long-term resilience of daylilies ... but until now there's never been an easy way to search for them.
Even more so, there is a long history of research (based on wheat rust performance) that demonstrates further detail is needed to distinguish narrow (vertical) or wide (horizontal) resistance _and_ susceptibility that performs best against rust over the long-term (you can't just breed for resistance alone - there are hidden pitfalls in it. But, choosing both horizontal and vertical resistance requires a 1.0 versus 1.1+ separation, and horizontals are further categorized in 2.4 versus 2.5+ groups that are both beneficial, but used in different ways).
ATP would be Unique in its ability to:
1. Search for resiliency ratings with all other cultivar info included (photos, pedigrees, etc). If the current "resistant/susceptible" box is also retained, this would keep it simple enough to help even those who are not looking for more detail and continue to be a tool that benefits both consumers and producers ... more knowledge about garden performance, and less hassles at both ends.
2. Adding a 1.0-5.0 ratings box would supply the necessary tool for hybridizers to easily estimate and choose helpful mixes of both horizontally and vertically resistant cultivars (this includes beneficial "susceptible" plants!). Also, the equally important more-susceptible plants that likely carry beneficial and rare genes needed for the future, would benefit from crosses with more highly resilient mates; again, a more detailed scale is needed to do this.
The importance of a detailed scale lies in that, without it, there is no way to estimate the likelihood between vertical and horizontal rust resilience, or to find a range of matches that may reliably improve or broaden daylily performance. Since I have cumulative data already (840 cultivars' averaged scores from up to 10 online research rankings between 2001-2007) I already have the benefit of knowing what I work with ... but ATP could make it possible for everyone else to have equal access if they like :}
