Daffodils in the Southern Hemisphere - 2007

[Lesley Cox]

That was quite a marathon Graham, posting something for everyone and inviting comment! In general, I DO like the lot (except-those-you-know-which) but like the others, I REALLY like the little poeticus. Just imagine if someone were doing this work with frits or tulips!!!

[mark smyth]

I dont compose my photos but take maybe 5 or more from various angles. Here are some of my photos showing grey background, natural and the sky. The latter is something copied from Paddy in S. Ireland

[Maggi Young]

I am amazed to learn that daff exibitors only see new stuff at shows or similar... I cannot believe that the potential for sales, offered by fine photogrpahy of their wares, is not capitalised on by growers/hybridisers .

Graham, I will only say to you that I consider that my comments are/were in a  "proper considered context". I will leave the matter there. Of course, I enjoy seeing the range of your flowers.

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
Mark, I like looking at other peoples photos and the digital age means there are a lot more to look at. Your photos of Brian Duncan's flowers are the only way I get to see what he is doing (now that is an ambiguous sentence isn't it). He has a digital camera and I have seen photos of non-daffodil plants but I cannot recall him posting daffodil photos.
Lesley, we used to do a big late show in Bowral but that show got canned due to some internal differences. We built up a stock of late flowering varieties but only use them for breeding now. The other thing is that some varieties flower much later than is apparent when you purchase them. One of a famous breeders daffodil flowers after the poeticus (ie mid-October here)!! From a hybridisers point of view really early varieties and really late varieties are not very valuable as nobody will pay much for them.
That is why there is plenty of really nice late flowering daffodils here. And they cover most peoples likes and dislikes. So I said to myself why not finish with a flourish (this weekend will be my second last weekend of serious hybridising and I don't expect to be doing any further posts). I did not expect that my photographic abilities (or lack thereof) had displaced the flowers. However, you live and learn!!
We grow quite a few galanthus and fritillaria. In fact I am having some problems with feral fritillaria in my daffodil pots and boxes. However, I have not tried any hybridising with them.
We have about 4 boxes of miniature poeticus seedlings so we will be doing something with them in the next couple of years.
Martin, I have a few RHS Daffodils, Snowdrops and Tulips Yearbooks but as I pointed out earlier, miniatures are not something that are a big thing in UK daffodil world so it is not something that I have ever considered as a must have. After they got me to write an article and then didn't publish it I have given it a miss entirely. When in doubt I ask my botanist friend who specialises in narcissus! He is particularly knowledgeable in relation to species narcissus. He is not into non-wild hybrids. There are two books for miniature daffodil enthusiasts. The first is John Blanchards book that deals with the species and then there is a book by Murray Wells on Miniature Daffodils. We do have a lot of ADS Daffodil Journals that often have articles relating to miniatures.
Miniatures are about a quarter of all flowers in a US daffodil show.
Maggie, fine photography is an expensive overhead and it is used to a fairly limited degree in catalogues but fine photography of itself won't sell bulbs if the bulbs themselves are not of a high quality. Daffodil exhibitors are a bit more discerning than that. Even in my case, having better photographs will not increase my top end sales. At the low end photos are irrelevant. The other thing is that photos are viewed on a computer at a low resolution. I don't send people 5 megapixel images (I would lose customers if I did) and I don't send multiple angles unless it is a flower at the premium end of the market. At the top end quality and good service are everything.

[Martin Baxendale]

Graham, with any luck the RHS Daffs, Snowdrops and Tulips Yearbook may decide not to publish my article either! Embarrassment solved! 

I'm sure we'll all miss seeing your photos when your hybridising season ends. My comments about the blue backgrounds weren't meant to be a serious criticism and the daffs were great to see whatever the background (I'm sure Maggi and I didn't mean to suggest that the background ruined seeing the flowers for us or was more important than seeing the flowers - just meant as an aside). Hope we'll see that miniature poeticus flower open before you stop posting!

[annew]

Ah, Maggi The lawyer will always have the last word! Graham, if you invite opinions you will have to be more specific if you are going to be upset by some. I'm sure nobody meant criticism by what was said, just personal preference, so don't feel hurt by the discussion. We would rather see your daffs on a background of fluorescent polka dots ( ) than not at all.
It's sad we will never see most in the flesh - rather like posts of many wild orchids, which we will never have the chance to grow. Worse is seeing the ones we like best being described as being not what you're looking for in your breeding programme!

[mark smyth]

"Maggie, fine photography is an expensive overhead"

Graham my new camera bought a few months ago for it's size - to fit in my pocket - and 10 megapixels was well under £200. It has been so good my other digital camera is now now collecting dust on the book case

[Otto Fauser]

author=mark smyth link=topic=700.msg19550#msg19550 date=1190790427]
I dont compose my photos but take maybe 5 or more from various angles. Here are some of my photos showing grey background, natural and the sky. The latter is something copied from Paddy in S. Ireland

Your photos of your Daffodils are superb ,specially those that have the sky as backgroud ,Mark,it almost convinces me to change my S.L.R. Digital to your small one , that fits into your pocket.I found mine rather cumbersome on the 5 day bustour during the conference in may in the Czech Republic-so please let us know the make and other details of your camera.
  Narc. 'Mitzi' is just finished flowering in my garden-individual flowers lasted for 3 weeks.

[mark smyth]

Canon Ixus 900Ti

[Maggi Young]

individual flowers lasted for 3 weeks.

This feature is something not always appreciated by new gardeners... often we hear moans ( usually about the larger garden types daffs)about what to do with the daffodill leaves after the flowers are past: some folks tie them up in knots, cut them off etc... all look ghastly and do the bulbs no favours... if these people stopped to consider how long each flower has given them pleasure, you would think they would be a bit patient and let the leaves alone in peace to build up next year's blooms. Narcissus 'Cedric Morris' has the longest lasting flowers of all our narcissus...easily ten or twelve weeks.
Now, I'm sure that none of our Forumists would abuse their narcissus leaves in the ways I have listed, but I am aware that there are many people reading this forum who are new gardeners, and not specialists growingdwarf species , as we mostly are, so I felt I had to make this point about how well these flowers perform for us and how we owe them a little respect in return!  Be kind to daffodill leaves!

[Mini-daffs]

Anne
A couple of photos for you. Hot and windy and no rain for a while so our daffodil season is rapidly coming to an early end.
If you are not into blue backgrounds don't bother with this post.
The poeticus is a large miniature in size and dwarf in terms of height. There is another yet to open. Some water will assist the one that is yet to open.
I can't imagine miniature poeticus becoming generally available for a very long time and ours will find a ready market in the US when we have built up our stock. However, we have a lot of work to do if we are ever to catch up on Leone Lowe's miniature poeticus.
In the words of Bugg's Bunny: "Tttthat's all folks."

[Martin Baxendale]

That 5 w-w seedling (third pic down) is a cracker!

[Maggi Young]

The first "pink" one is a lovely shape, and I agree with Martin on the third one but I'm voting for the second last... the triandrus with long petals, what an elegant flower.

Trying hard to imagine "Hot and windy and no rain"... it's not easy at the minute, though this afternoon turned nice and bright.

[Lesley Cox]

5W-W for me too I think. So pure white on elegant little flowers. Graham I don't mind the blue background. We've had so many grey days recently that the blue looks very nice.

[annew]

Number 3 and 9 for me too, though I'd like to put that poeticus to stud!