I always thought that a registered daylily should look exactly like the photo on the AHS website for example and not have any “imperfections.” Is this true or am I expecting too much?
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Many factors will affect the way your Hemerocallis appears in comparison to AHS photos. Posted website photos will usually reflect the plant in its “perfection”, showing all characteristics the variety should possess under optimal growing conditions. Very rarely are these conditions duplicated in reality. Thus, plants in our gardens will not appear as perfect as the website. Light conditions may be different, nutrients available to the plant are not optimum, soil conditions vary etc. That being said, the AHS when judging Hemerocallis considers these points when judging flowers: colour, texture, form substance and size of cultivar. Assuming that you are a residential gardener, if one or more of these characteristics is grossly incorrect (eg. colour, form) then there would be a problem and maybe the plant you purchased was labelled incorrectly. If you purchased this from a reputable source, perhaps if you took photos of your plant and the tag that it was labelled with back to them and have them give you an explanation as to why there are major differences.
Even though you are familiar with the AHS website, here is a quick link again for your reference: https://www.daylilies.org/AHSFAQsNew.html