There are no dunb questions.Yes,you can cross them.As far as I know(which isn't very far!)you will get a mix of dormant,semi evergreen,and evergreen,depending on the heritage of the ones that you cross.Maybe someone with more knowledge can answer this better.

Betsy

Hi Ann,
There are no dumb questions. There might be a dumb answer every now and then! ;0)
Betsy's right about both. You certainly can cross evergreen and dormant daylilies but there is no way to predict the foliage habit of the seedlings, unless you have lots of experience with the parents already. It just depends on which genes dominate. Sometimes siblings will have different habits. For instance, Tim Bell's SISTER OF PRAISE and SYMPATHY OF PRAISE are sibs, but have opposite foliage habit.
The hybridizer must evaluate their seedlings over a period of time in which the foliage habit will be determined. Sometimes the habit will change depending on where the plant is grown. That's probably why the term semi-evergreen was coined. The plant acts like an evergreen in the south and a dormant in the north.
Hope this helps,
Ed

So that's why I've seen listings on LA where the foliage type is "unknown"! I couldn't figure it out and forgot to ask.

Suzanne

Someone out there has done a study of that very question and posted charts and so on. According to that hybridizer pollen determines dormancy (sure), growth habits follow pollen (not as sure) and pod parent has most effect on the color (generally). It has been so long since I visited the site that I don't remember who it was so take these statements as being worth what you pay for them.

JoAnn

A word about dormants. The following was taken from the AHS website: A plant that stops all vegetative growth, sets resting buds in the crown, and loses its leaves for the winter, regardless of the climate in which it is growing. I believe the resting buds are a determination whether the plant is dormant or not.
Charlie

So if you have a seedling and it's lost its foliage, how would you know if it was setting resting buds in its crown or not?
Would you punt and call it an semi-evergreen?
Ed