Daffodils

Oh you Texan's (and Ca & Fl folks too) sure do enjoy an early
spring! We'll be joining the fun soon. Wonderful pic's

Well the Narcissus are popping here now--a little late this year. That's because we had a very dry fall (after a very wet winter and spring 2007) and it never got cold until January. The Narcissus are variable here every year, depending on the weather. From here out, these have all been in the ground for a number of years; the fall 2007 Narcissus have all bloomed and are nothing but leaves, along with some of the tazetta's that are older.

This one is Narcissus x odorus 'Plenus'
This is a species from 1601--AKA as Narcissus odorus flore pleno (plenus) and sometimes called "Double Campernelle" or "The Queen Anne's Double". Said to look like a perfect little yellow rose, fragrant, early, often multiple blooms per stem (this one has 3 on one stem), height 10"-12", a reliable naturalizer for zones 4-9.

Best source in the USA on these (Europe has some very good growers of this one too) grows fields full of them about a hundred miles from here.

wow Debbie...that one is really beautiful! I need to order that next fall....nice job.

This is "Bella Estrella" or "Bahama Beach" - I planted both and can't remember which.

And "Quail" is just starting to bloom - one of my favorites and very fragrant.

Love those large-cupped ones Steve; that's what I'm adding for next year, other than more species. I have a few, just not enough; and they haven't bloomed yet. They remind me of the kinds my mom used to grow when I was a kid.

not the best pic, I'll come back to post the name. I planted a ton of these, they are so delicate, here is the first bloom

Oh, that one is sooooo... beautiful and delicate, Vossner! I'm anxious to know its name.

I few more new ones!

Pink Charm

NOID Double, if anyone knows the name, i would love and answer!

Very nice, vossner and aggie - I am glad to see your daffs are coming along as well! It is interesting to see all of the variation on the types of daffodils we have all planted.

Debbie, I am going to expand the number I plant next year. I like all of the different forms and colors.

I agree with bonitin - I like the delicateness of vossner's flower. Nery, you should take another pic when you have a bunch in bloom at the same time! .I bet it will be a dramatic effect

aggie, your send one almost looks like "Golden Ducat"...very pretty.

well, I'll be...

You know that delicate daff I posted on 3/18, 12:39p? I went back to that section of the garden and the cup had turned white. Then I went to last year journal and find that I planted 50 or so thalia in that area. The flowers are completely white today. I will post in a few days when I have a bunch open. weird!

yes, that's strange Vossner, I don't recognize 'Thalia' in it! At least I've never seen it starting off with a pale yellow cup like in your pic. Another difference is that Thalia has slightly wavy petals (which yours doesn't has)
like in this pic. from last year;

My Texas Daffodils are blooming.

And Thalia

here is another NOID, at first i thought it might be more Ice Follies, but the cup is smaller, not as flat and the yellow doesnt fade.

tracie

just thought i would post another photo of some of my mixed daffs, snapdragons, delphinium, that i took today.

tracie

This message was edited Mar 19, 2008 9:21 PM

Lovely photos on this thread! Hopefully I'll have some to add soon.

Steve, that's interesting about your first-year bulbs blooming sooner. I generally see just the opposite -- bulbs bloom later than I'd expect their first year, then settle in and bloom a couple weeks earlier the following year.

I wonder if Pupil's double daff with the golden-yellow in the center could be 'Cheerfulness'? That's an older variety... I have a few out front, and I love them.

Very nice photos, everyone. Love the Thalias....I have never grown that one but have read they'll do well here so I need to try it.

Aggie, I like your mix. Do delphiniums do well here? I had always heard that was a more "northern" plant - but then I grow peonies and they do better here than you would think. Let me know how yours do.

Well critter...I have heard others say the exact same thing you're saying. I think it must be due to the more mild winters we have than where most bulbs originate. Your climate is probably more on par with those, likely harsher than a Dutch winter which is chilly and rainy but not really COLD. I lived in Belgium for a couple of years so I am very familiar with it. Similar to the Puget Sound climate in WA. Maybe that explains it in part. We get cold nights and all, but the days tend to warm up a lot more than in say, northern Europe or WA.

I am wondering what "Cheerfulness" looks like...I have 50 of those and 50 "Yellow Cheerfulness" which have not bloomed. This is the first season I've grown them. I have lots of green stems popping up now. Oh, and 50 Sir Winston Churchill, which I have grown and I know to be a very late daffodil. Oh, and Ice Follies are just now blooming LOL.....

This message was edited Mar 19, 2008 10:07 PM

Here's my contribution to the daff-fest here. I picked these this evening and put them in a vase.

hmmm. Steve, you just reminded me that I have some Sir WC somewhere. My lovely Pipits have returned but I need to trim a nearby lantana that has just about swalled them. Maybe today...

Loving the show everybody!

Steve, those Bella Estrella or Bahama Beach are really nice! I like the graceful quality to them.

Aggie, so pretty with the snaps! Wish my snaps would hurry along.

Yes vossner, aren't SWC's great?? I love them planted among Dutch Iris - they're about the same height and bloom at the same time here and make a really dramatic effect.

Thanks gemini - I kinda like the way they look as well. I am soooo bad about ID's - I need to leave the labels near everything! Oh well - your show will be coming soon!!

thanks gemini, i cant wait for my new lilies! as far as the delphinium go, i bought them about 6 wks ago from a local big box store. impulse buy, i have always wanted some. i was told afterwards that they dont do well in our heat. so far mine have been doing great, of course, we havent gotten very warm yet. i was at the same store yesterday and the plant vendor was there. i asked him about the delphiniums and he said they were a shorter variety that did better in our area. he stated that they are actually grown outside of Houston. i guess i will just wait and see. am really enjoying them now. here is another picture of my blue delphinium. please overlook the lovely yellow tree pollen that is pretty much on everything right now.

tracie



This message was edited Mar 20, 2008 9:12 PM

i planted a bunch of different varieties of daffs that are now coming up. there is one variety that has the strangest looking buds. they are not like the others that are kinda a smoothe oval, these are round at the bottom and pointed at the top. cant wait to see what they are! :)


here is another photo of my mixed bed with daffs.

Very nice photos, aggie. Well I would think if you found a delphinium farmed near Houston it would do well in north or east Texas as well. I too have always thought of them as a cold-weather plant and all of the major vendors say they're not good in hot conditions. Oh well it is always good to prove the experts wrong! We'll have to see how well it returns next year.

Very nice daffs, pard. Let's see your garden!!!

My first daffs opened yesterday!

Breck's called these "yellow jonquils for naturalizing."

A closer look... yum.

Neal! Your little yellow daffs are starting to open, also. They've been multiplying, I think! They are just so sweet. :-)

I like the spash of orange in you bunch pard, as we are getting strong winds and rain, expecting snow tomorrow, I wonder if I should cut mine too!

aggie, I wondered if the short one you have is Magic Fountains, I got a white one and it crosses well with others near it, they are more perennial than the Pacific hybrids. It has the form more of D. belladonna but immature plants can be like that. If it is Magic Fountains it might survive. This is what paghat says:

"They require full sun, in humus-rich well-draining soil & moderate moisture. Extremely cold-hardy, they can be gardened from zone 4 to zone 8, & possibly even in zone 3. They are not nearly as heat-hardy & will not perennialize above Zone 8, but can be grown in warmer climates as very successful winter annuals."

http://www.paghat.com/delphiniumdarkbee.html

Thalia has opened, we has sun before the rain came!

Very nice "yellow jonquils" critter, but they aren't jonquils I'm afraid. They should hang around but don't usually naturalise.

Wallaby, any guess as to what they are? Maybe good old 'King Alfred'? I agree -- not jonquils. But they're multiplying in my little island bed, and I like them!

grr, lost my post, lol,here we go again.

The history of King Alfred as follows,

http://www.gardening-guides.com/plants-a-z/king-alfred-daffodils.php

This where I lost it after trying to get a link in my favourites which replaced my page here, new tab system, anyway Cornwall in the south of England is a growing area. It seems Golden Harvest has replaced KA but that is now getting base rot in most areas.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jHsuU4pjITQC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=daffodil+king+alfred&source=web&ots=_7BXWmYhYY&sig=DfujRKbOZzDtsbvSrGlaF4s085E&hl=en

And, I have/had a Cornwall grower in my favourites, I want to find the original KA now!

This site shows many forms,

http://www.ringhaddy-daffodils.com/acatalog/Div-1Y-Y.html

There's links to speciality growers worldwide,

http://www.daffodilusa.org/bulb/speciali.html#UNITED%20KINGDOM

The Cornwall grower, his grandfather grew them in 1925 so there should be some old stock,

http://www.qualitydaffodils.co.uk/

The Cornwall grower has KA, I could spend a fortune there! The ones I really fall for of course cost the most, like GBP10.00 or more. The site is slow to load though.

http://www.qualitydaffodils.com/product.php?productid=1124&cat=4&page=3

Wow, pretty daffs at those sites! Yeah, I knew the name "King Alfred" gets used a lot for daffs that aren't really KA... there are so many yellow daffs, I think my chances of actually IDing those "yellow jonquils for naturalizing" from Breck's are slim! I tried asking them one time what they were... they said "yellow." LOL!

Narcisuss 'Sir Winston Churchill', one of my late narcissi along with Cheerfulness and Geranium. These have been coming back for years.

Chris

wow, that one is a real beauty! very elegant!

tracie

Chris,

I know its a bulb thread about daffodils but I have to ask what the blue
flowering shrub is in the background?
Tam

Tammy,

The blue shrub is Rosemary prostratus. I also grow 'Tuscan Blue' which grows even bigger and more violet blue. To paraphrase Woody Allen, "There are bushes the size of Buicks".

Chris

OH - I just admired yourTuscan Blue on the tulips thread! I've been so tempted
to try Rosemary prostratus. I recall its hardy to zone 7 and I'm in a zone 6
here. But I have southern exposure with lots of stone walls. Blue is just a
wonderful color in just about every color scheme. I'm gonna have to give it a try.

Sir Winston Churchill looks much nicer than the stock pics, I might have to get it! The Rosemary does look very nice behind it.

It was 4th March when I posted Rip van Winkle, still around nearly 3 weeks later and in the snow! It had melted quite a bit at midday, this shows the original and some of the transplanted bulbs further along.