Daffodils in the Southern Hemisphere - 2007

[Mini-daffs]

 
We have had daffodils flowering for a while now but it is only recently that I have taken a few photographs and edited them.

[Maggi Young]

Hello, Graham, how nice to have you back in the new forum!
Glad to see things are growing well at the other side of the world.

[Paddy Tobin]

Hi Graham,

Great to have a taste of spring from the southern hemisphere to remind us of a beautiful time of year and a beautiful selection of plants.

Gorgeous daffodils.

Paddy

[Lesley Cox]

Obviously lots of N. cyclamineus in those above. Mine is just out yesterday so spring REALLY must be on the verge.

[Paul T]

Graham,

Great pics.  I'm particularly taken by that flat white hoop.  All very nice though.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Thankyou for the welcome back Maggie.
I have been very busy at the farm so I have been a lurker.
Lots of bulbocodiums out. We have had some nice Mondieu out as well but I did not see the point of posting more photos of it.
While I have posted quite few photos of cyclamineus hybrids we have quite a few standard miniatures out a the moment as well. I only posted photos of a some of our top quality seedlings.
The pick of the photos that I am posting tonight include a top quality miniature 1W-Y seedling that has acceptable petal coverage although we will continue to work to get even better petal coverage.

[Paul T]

Graham,

Great pics again!!  Given you have a lot of seedlings in that box that have 7 petals, does that mean that the extra petals are stabilising in the seedlings (i.e it is actually increasing chances in teh breeding) or is it environmental factors that are doing it?  Are you trying to breed for extra petals in that way?

The N. asturiensis in lovely.  I really like those slightly nodding species types.  I must keep an eye out for that species in the future as well, as it is a definite "must have".

Great Stuff!!

[Mini-daffs]

Paul
You are correct in assuming that I have seedlings that usually have more than 6 petals and yes we are breeding for pot miniatures with extra petals. The extra petals are genetic and I know exactly who the offending parent is because it often comes with extra petals. The exhibition purist would not like them but that is not whom I am breeding for with our pot miniatures. I have crossed the pot miniatures in question with a nice form of N. fernandesii to see what I get. Hopefully lots of petals and a nice perfume!
The form of N. asturiensis in the photo is not the form we prefer to use for hybrising as it has thin petals and lots of frill.
I forgot to say that the nice round flat form of the romieuxii hybrid is certainly a keeper. It certainly stands out in a box of seedlings.
To confuse everyone completely, the photos are a mix of our wet and dry hybridings programs. The wet program seedlings live permanently in the shade house along with our large collection of N. cyclamineus. As you will see from the photo of the seedling box I don't tend to take a lot of photos of yellow flowered seedlings since there is often nothing particularly special about them from my point of view. I usually take photos of seedlings that are different and interesting. I usually take multiple photos from different angles but I won't any more than one photo.

[annew]

Nice to see your daffs, Graham. You might like to know the babies you sent me this year are doing very well, most have flowered and produced seed.

[Lesley Cox]

These are a lovely collection. I specially like the pot of seedlings because it clearly shows the relative size of the plants. These tinies are very cute.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Anne it good to hear that they are thriving. While it means the bulbs have to be "big" and healthy it also requires skill to turn them around. The skill level is higher in relation to miniatures because of the diminuitive size of the bulbs.
Lesley, I have attached a photo of KB-M-6W-Y-8-07 in its pot. It is shorter in height and the flower size fits our description of a micro mini. It is tiny compared to the larger miniatures. It is from our dry program. I am not sure I will have the time to take pot photos when everything is in full swing. As a general propositon our miniatures are around 10cm tall and our micro miniatures are around 1-5cm tall. When we overdo the miniaturisation they flower at ground level. If you look carefully at the photo of KB-M-6W-Y-6-07 you will notice it has a 2cm stem.
The dry program miniatures are extremely hardy. As Paul has mentioned we have had many years of drought now and it has been a while since our last decent fall of rain but our miniatures have still done quite well. Some of the bulbocodiums have thrived in the dry conditions.

[Paul T]

Wow Graham.  That littlie is amazing.  I do covet so many of your little gems.  So nice to see the pics, Thanks for taking the time to post them!!

[Lesley Cox]

It's hard to imagine anything so tiny, and everything in proportion. A perfect little guy for a small trough. Thanks Graham. Maybe there will be a chance to import some of these to NZ sometime? We are allowed to get dormant daffs.

[Mini-daffs]

Hi
Lesley we do export to New Zealand but the flowers you are looking at this years selected seedlings so I wouldn't hold my breath. However, I commend you on your expensive taste in miniature daffodils.  Anything that is tiny and perfect and not all yellow is highly sought after by our US customers.
I have attached some more photos. Some of the flowers are breakthroughs. We are doing a lot of work to improve our standard miniatures and the work is starting to be rewarded. The 6Y-Y is almost miniature in size. It has been bred down from a standard.

[Paul T]

Graham,

Beautiful!!  Those white/yellow cyclamineus are great, and that first pic has the most wonderful form.... absolutely fantastic to have got it down to miniature size.