Brian Duncan narcissus seedlings

[mark smyth]

I just spoke to Brian who gave permission to show what he has bred in the last few years. And for all the budding breeders I am also allowed to show you the hybrid parents - seed parent x pollent parent.

[mark smyth]

a few more

[mark smyth]

do you still want more?

GQ = 'Gipsy Queen'

[mark smyth]

and lastly variations on a theme. A few asturiensis

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Exquisite flowers Mark ! Difficult to make a choice - I'm most impressed with the crosses that result in a white flower with a yellow trumpet !  Thanks very much for showing these.

[mark smyth]

I like the bicolor trumpets too

[Maggi Young]

WOWEE! Just wonderful Mark, thank you for posting these. Even more Thanks to Brian for breeding such fabulous flowers and letting us see them on the Forum.  What a stunning bunch of babies! Some very successful plants there, that will generate huge interest , I'm sure. I would gladly grow all of them, but some are especially good, to my eye. All a question of taste, I suppose !

[hadacekf]

I like it all. Thanks for showing this beautiful narcissi. .

[Maggi Young]

The little white 3110 is a real sweetie. Am i correct in thinking these would all be under 6inches / 15 cms tall, Mark?

[tonyg]

WOW Thanks Mark - and thank Brian for us.  Those are superb. 

[mark smyth]

while there I registered Brian and have sent him a link. Hopefully he will come in and add comments but for the time being he is off to the London show tomorrow with many goodies and then away to Spain.

Yes these are all miniatures. Some may have been micros. The latter are sooo cute

[Paddy Tobin]

The two clear whites have my attention. Interesting plants.

[annew]

I'm GREEN with envy! Beautiful flowers - what does Cambourne look like?

[Maggi Young]

There may be those out there who do not know Brian Duncan. Here's a little biog. I pinched from the site of the American Daffodil Society, when Brian was a guest speaker at one of their conventions in 2004.
Thanks, ADS !!
 Brian Duncan MBE.

"Brian Duncan is one of the best known and most successful daffodil hybridizers and exhibitors in the world. Few hybridizers are better represented in our collections, and in our show entries. His success in the daffodil world is exemplified by his winning England's Englehart Cup, a trophy awarded for daffodils bred and raised by the exhibitor, seven times between 1985 and 2002. Brian has also had many successes in the United States. In 1986 The ADS awarded him its highest medal of honor, the Gold Medal, for his contributions to the daffodil. Since then he has won the ADS Hybridizer's Trophy, for daffodils bred and raised by the exhibitor, six times. Brian has served on the ADS Board of Directors for many years and has attended numerous ADS Conventions along with his wife Betty.

Brian spent his childhood on a dairy farm in Northern Ireland. He attended the University of Nottingham School of Agriculture where he studied dairy technology. After a 25-year career as an advisor in the Milk and Food Technology Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, he moved on to hold managerial positions in the dairy industry. This work mainly involved UHT products and Irish Cream Liqueur. On his many trips to the US Brian has often brought samples of the latter to the delight of his US hosts.

Brian Duncan's interest in daffodils started as an amateur in the early 1960s. His interest grew rapidly and he first entered the RHS show at Westminster in 1964. That same year he began hybridizing. Many have been charmed by "Lilac Charm" and will remember the pink doubles "Pink Pageant" and "Pink Paradise", hybridized in these early years. In 1975, he introduced "Doctor Hugh", named for a friend, which still grown and shown by many and still regarded one of the better small-cupped daffodils.

His next step was to take over Rathowen Daffodils along with his partner Clark Campbell in 1973 and as early as 1974 the partnership won the first of many RHS Gold Medals. Progress was rapid and they won the RHS Williams Memorial Medal in 1978 and 1982. More RHS awards followed - the Peter Barr Memorial Cup in 1987 and the Reginald Cory Memorial Cup in 1999. In 1989, Brian Duncan issued his first catalog and in the following years, won several RHS Gold Medals for trade exhibits.

Brian Duncan's service to the daffodil world has not been restricted to his hybridizing and success at shows. He has served on the RHS Daffodil and Tulip Committee for over 30 years, the last nine of which as Chairman. He is currently a member of the RHS Daffodil and Tulip Yearbook Committee, the London Daffodil Show Schedule Committee, the RHS Trials Committee, and the chairman of the RHS Narcissus Classification Committee. He is a founding member and past chairman of the Northern Ireland Daffodil Group and current chairman of his local Omagh Gardening Society."

[annew]

Not bad for a beginner then...