Narcissus July

[Anthony Darby]

Narcissus bulbocodium nivalis flowering for the first time.

[fermi de Sousa]

Narcissus bulbocodium nivalis flowering for the first time.

Yours has a bit of height compared to mine, Anthony!
Ours flowered last year for the first time and we had one yellow and one white! The white is the first to bloom this year and here's a pic comparing it with a more typically sized hoop (Glenbrook Ta-Julia)
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

The second seedling of the cross between Narc. bulbocodium ssp graelsii and 'Mondieu' has now opened and looks similar to the first!
it seems that the Narc. romieuxii genes have predominated despite being the pollen parent,
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Narcissus 'Glenbrook-Ta Julia' is a grex so there is a fair variation between the siblings.
This one is quite nice with a flat-corona,
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

One of Lawrence Trevanion's "green" daffs - Viristar (Hillstar x Emerald Sea) - opens greenish and fades to white (7W-W)
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Here are some hoop petticoat seedlings which flowered last year for the first time and they seem to be better this year. The one in the rear is similar to the parent (one of Glenbrook's hybrid hoops, possibly 'Smarple') but the one in front is similar to 'Mitimoto' being 10W-Y,
cheers
fermi

[Matt T]

Very nice, Fermi, especially your 10W-Y. Dare I say it, but it may have an edge on 'Mitimoto' for me, as the perianth segments appear have a very good clean colour and contrast well with the yellow tube and corolla. Definitely one to keep and bulk up.

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
It has been a while since I my last post. Too many things to do and not enough time. I need some of Anne's minions!!! Suki (our Chinese Crested dog) is not a lot of help as she is a lapdog.
Keira Bulbs has invested in a new camera and a lense so we can take better photos of our miniatures. However, the "L" plates are still on at the moment. The lense largely removes the need for the blue background in my photos so those who don't like our blue backgrounds can rejoice.
If you want to breed miniatures or what I would term intermediates for alpine gardens then there will plenty for you to see.
It is a funny season. It has been a very cold winter here but some things are flowering more than 6 weeks early. However, it has been fairly moist over winter so that may be the cause. On the other hand it may be just because we grow so many daffodils.
There are two photos of an intermediate reverse bicolor. It is the same flower at different stages.
Anyway I hope you enjoy the early season offerings.
Fermi, I hope you keep up growing daffodils from seed. Look out for other bulbs that can be bred with your seedlings.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Hi
One of the photos in this batch turns into a micro miniature W-P. The white trumpet is either a large miniature or a small intermediate. Either way it is a very nice seedling. KB-M-25-2000 is a very nicely shaped miniature that is flowering way too early but it will get some white pollen. It is really something that should be used for breeding miniature 6Y-R's.
The big bulbocodium is a very nice seedling that has been crossed with Mondieu. The seedling bulbocodium measure 45mm so it is just short of not being a miniature.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Hi
A few seedlings and a few species. Some of our species are exceptionally early this year. This has its advantages in terms of hybridising.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Hi
A posting of species. We had some success with producing tazetta seed last year and have flowered miniature tazetta hybrids so we are now in the position of being able to say that we hybridise in every daffodil division.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Hi
A few more species and some of our intermediates that are good for pots and some of our miniature 6W-Y (they are yellow using the RHS colour chart but look like 6W-W's when mature.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Hi
I need to do some more editing. So it is good evening from Suki and me.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Hi
We are back. My assistant, Suki, is not all that much help since we got her a chair for the study!
The third photo shows a largish miniature 6W-Y that is really more for breeding than exhibition. It is useful for breeding intermediate sized division 6 flowers. The stem is short but the flower is really short and fat. However, it has lots of pollen and is itself fertile.
The N. pachybolbus is extremely early this year.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Hi
A few more photos.
There is a photo of one of our intermediate sized seedlings that is bred from N. hispanicus. It has a miniature height stem but the flower is too large for miniature. I have also posted a photo of N. hispanicus. There is lot of difference in the height of the species and the seedling.
Papa Snoz is our intermediate 6Y-Y. It is very fertile and we have used it for breeding down. Its main defect in terms of breeding is that it has nice long trumpet and that is not a desirable quality for breeding miniatures. You want a short trumpet rather than the classical N. cyclamineus waisted trumpet.