Narcissus in April 2007

[hadacekf]

Can anyone identify this Narcissus? I got it as Narcissus 'Tete-a'-Tete'. However, I think it is not N. 'Tete-a'-Tete'.
Any suggestions, please?

[Paul T]

Franz,

It certainly looks like what we have under that name here in Aus.  Obviously I can't really tell dimensions etc from the photo, but the form at least seems about right.  That is assuming that what we have under that name is correct here in Aus.  Why do you think it isn't correct?

[annew]

This is interesting because there was a pan of very similar narcissi at Loughborough show. They were very uniform, and all smaller than T a T, and all had only one flower. We discussed the possibility that they were starved T aT, but in the end we couldn't say for sure. Compare the ones in Franz's picture with the daisy and you'll see how small they are.

[annew]

here'a a pic, sorry about the colour, it was the lights in the hall.

[Ian Y]

I have made some adjustment to Anne's picture.

[Lesley Cox]

I too think Franz' daff looks pretty much like `Tete -a-Tete' though it almost always has twin flowers per stem, as in the stem on the left. I love it because no matter how I neglect it or drown it or cook it or starve it, it ALWAYS comes through and flowers where others act according to the treatment they've received.

[Lesley Cox]

On a second and third look, I'm not so sure. Perhaps the sepals are a little long and far reaching for `T a T'?

[Joakim B]

I have a "Dutch garden center" T T in Lund that I got last year that was 10-15cm and this year only 3-5 due to lack of water and feed.
Just to illustrate that it can happen. It might also be due to that it was getting ready early this year Outside where it was cold and warm and not a steady temperature as in a gardencenter.
The size of the flower was normal.
I do not know if this information helps in detereminating the flower.
Kind regards
Joakim

[Susan Band]

Here are a few Narcissus hybrids flowering in the garden. The first one is amongst Narcissus cycalmineus. The second is amongst Narcissus Angel's Tears, which haven't started flowering yet. Both hybrids are a lot bigger.

[annew]

That first one's a beauty!

[mark smyth]

My Tetes in the garden never produce many twins or triplets even though they are well fed

[hadacekf]

I thought that this outstanding hybrid must have up to three flowers. However my plants had always only one flower. The height is 15 cm.

[Maggi Young]

Yes, Franz, I  too thought that Tete a Tete should have at least two flowers.

[David Shaw]

And just what is Tete a Tete? Go round the supermarkets and garden centres and look at the planted up baskets of miature daffodils in flower. They nearly all describe them as Tete a Tete and you can take your choice of numbers of flowers per stem, height and even get bi-colours - all under this catch all name.

[Maggi Young]

Quite so, David, this daff has suffered like many bulbs and other plants, in that many variations may be obtained under one name. This is what the RHS registry of narcissus has to say about  Tête-à-Tête :    The International Daffodil Register and Classified List (1998)
Daffodil name
 Tête-à-Tête   
 Registered? Yes   
 Division
 12   
 Perianth colour(s)
 Y   
 Corona colour(s)
 Y   
Originator name
 A. Gray
 
Date of first flowering
 pre1949   
   
Seed parent
 `Cyclataz' self or open pollinated
 
 Description
 Fls 2-3 per stem, 65 mm wide; perianth segments ovate, brilliant yellow 8A, with slight white mucro, spreading or a little reflexed, plane, overlapping a quarter; the inner segments with margins wavy; corona cylindrical, short, broadly angled, slightly constricted near mouth, darker in tone (more vivid than 14B) than the perianth, mouth straight or slightly expanded, 6-lobed, with rim crenate. Dwarf. Very early. 2n=24+1B   
 
Synonym(s)
 none   
 
Award(s)
 AM (p)  1956
FCC (p)  1962
*AM (g)  1973
*FCC (g)  1974
AGM 1993
   
Notes
 A specimen of this cv. is the nomenclatural type of {N.} x {cyclazetta} 


I'm having a look to see if I can find any photos of award plants .