Arlene - We are both on the east coast of Florida, but I am further south of you. And I live about 5 miles inland from the Indian River and another 2 miles or more from the beach. I've only lost a few daylilies. And I know they must have been dormants because they failed to survive when all other daylilies were fine. A couple of the plants did bloom ... poorly, at best. And then disappeared after 2 years. No roots, nothing. I am sure you are right about the sliding scale between EV and DOR.
I do not have any named daylilies, so I can't say for sure about any plant. Part of me likes to think that the "mixed mutts" I grow have enough EV and SEV in them to survive and for most ... thrive. Until recently, I didn't even know for sure the parentage of any of mine. Except a few (which I am guessing) that have a strong resemblance to seed names I received several years ago. Roses in Snow parent is the only one that I can see in the children seedlings I have. My newest seedlings do have the parentage labeled, so I should be able to determine more with those in the future.
Anything I purchase on the LA is because I am budget challenged. I only buy seeds. I have a theory that plants grown from seeds in an area that they did not originally come from, will adapt much better than a plant. Just a crazy theory, but my success rate has to have some kind of explanation. Most of my earlier ones were neglected the first couple of years, too, because I didn't know enough about daylilies do make them healthy and happy. Most all survived past the first two years except the ones I am sure were dormants. I now pay closer attention to the background genetics of any seeds I want to acquire. But I still like to stretch the boundaries when I grow seedlings from seed.
I, too, would question an EV with dormant parents. How could that happen? It doesn't seem like that could be accurate.
