Narcissus July 2015

[Anthony Darby]

Narcissus cantabricus from  Vegas de Matute, in Segovia, Spain. Seed sown 2011.

[Lesley Cox]

That's a really nice one Anthony, with good thick texture so won't mind the snow you are supposed to get this week.

Did you send me some seed perhaps 3 or 4 years ago, coming from Rafa or did he himself send it I wonder, or even, perhaps, Fermi, of Narc. bulbocodium ssp nivalis? I ask because it is in bud almost open, now, a good two months ahead of my original ssp. nivalis and very low and cute-looking, a good deep gold colour. I should be able to get a picture within a few days. The buds are right at soil level whereas on my other, the stems grow to about 8cms. If it stays as is now, it will be a perfect candidate for a trough.

[Anthony Darby]

I don't have any nivalis, so it must have been someone else. I have a pot labelled graellsii with buds just visible.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Lesley,
I think Rafa did send me seed of N. nivalis (and a few others) which was to be distributed to you and a couple of other Daffanatics
I managed to end up taking most of my seedling N. nivalis bulbs with me to Europe in 2013 by mistake! I realised I wouldn't be able to bring them home so a kind gardener in Ireland  has grown them on to flowering size and is sending seed back to me this year!
That really is a case of "what goes 'round, comes 'round"!
cheers
fermi

[Anthony Darby]

Brilliant Fermi. 

[Anthony Darby]

Ooo! I have a flower bud on my Narcissus blancoi. 

[Matt T]

Nice one! Look forward to seeing that when it's open!

[David Nicholson]

I know that Narcissus are a pretty mixed up bunch in taxonomy terms but I had not seen N. blancoi before. I checked out the RHS paper "Botanical Names in the Genus Narcissus" where it is shown as N. cantabricus ssp luteolens but the Plant List lists it as synonymous  with N. albicans. Can anyone clarify please?

[Lesley Cox]

Not me David. It's a bit of a problem for us down under because what were "ordinary" names of Narcissus have sometimes now been replaced with new species names which aren't on our Bio Index so if we can get seed we also have to go scrabbling around to find out what it used to be or also is called, and provide the references. A pain but what's new?

I'm chuffed today to find a tiny daffodil in waiting in one of my old wash tub troughs. In fact, it was Roger who found it - most unusual that! It usually has to be the size of an oak tree before he sees it. Anyway, it is a yellowing bud flanked by two leaves and only 2cms high, of the true, the genuine N. asturiensis and is from seed which came from Brian Duncan, a gift from the true, the genuine Maggi, so precious for every reason. Photo in a few days.

[Anthony Darby]

I know that Narcissus are a pretty mixed up bunch in taxonomy terms but I had not seen N. blancoi before. I checked out the RHS paper "Botanical Names in the Genus Narcissus" where it is shown as N. cantabricus ssp luteolens but the Plant List lists it as synonymous  with N. albicans. Can anyone clarify please?

Another website puts it as a variety of hedraeanthus!

[Mini-daffs]

 
The season has been quite cold this year. Much better for reading indoors than being out in the cold. I would have thought it would have slowed down flowering but that has not been the case. Quite a few miniatures are now in full bloom along with a small number of intermediates and quite a few tazettas that are quite old cultivars. As is normally the case there are quite a few bulbocodiums in flower, including some giant ones.
The range of cyclamineus hybrids and diploid intermediates means that there are some excellent hybridising opportunities. However, the offspring will also be very very early flowering so of little value as most people like later flowering daffodils.
The photos for this post show a number of trumpet miniatures. The intermediate Cedric is from Glenbrook Bulb Farm and has petals and petal overlap to die for. The only issue is that the petals are not at right angles to the trumpet but this can be fixed by crossing with miniature cyclamineus hybrids with some reflex. The white-yellow miniature is also an excellent little flower but it could do with some more petal coverage so it needs to be crossed with the Cedric hybrid.

[Mini-daffs]

 
A follow on from the previous post. The miniature 1W-Y looks to have a pink tinge to it. We do a lot of breeding for pinks so having a pink tinge is not unexpected.
N. minimus is a selection of N. asturiensis that does not inflex as much. It is very miniature but the stem is taller than some of our N. asturiensis.

[Mini-daffs]

 
There are some cyclamineus hybrids flowering at the moment including a top quality miniature 6W-Y. I have included a photo that shows that it opens white yellow and fades to white. Of the miniature 6Y-Y's the best is the dry hybrid as it does not have curved petals like the wet hybrid. However, the wet one has a nice vase shaped trumpet.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Hi
As may be expected we have quite a few  bulbocodiums flowering.

[Mini-daffs]

 
A few more bulbocodiums that are flowering.
In relation to taxonomy, I have only just got used to having N. cordubensis. It is quite distinct from N. fernandesii as Rafa points out.