April Narcissus 2011

[Brian Ellis]

They are, as you say, almost perfect, and the dedication put into growing them is admirable.  It blows our minds away every year (even the poorer years like this year).  Here are portraits of the twelve

[Brian Ellis]

The scent was amazing Maggi

[Maggi Young]

Super portraits of the flowers, too.

[Hans A.]

Magnificant pictures Rafa!
Think the beetle is Tropinota hirta - the same who likes to destroy Oncoflowers here.

[Rafa]

I am not very interesed in hybrids but seeing this display is impossible to not recognize their beauty, thank you Brian.

Anne, this interesting... maybe they were there before this trees. One of characters in N. triandrus subsp. pallidulus is that it has glaucous leaves and stem due the wax. It use the wax and its conposition to be protected from the UVA daiation from the direct sun exposure.

Thank you Hans! it seems this insect has a good taste

[Gerry Webster]

Narcissus assoanus

A trade form of unknown provenance. A very hot, completely dry summer bake promotes flowering.
With N. poeticus, this the last narcissus to flower here.

[annew]

Rafa, looking at my photographs, there seems to be quite a lot of variation in leaf/stem colour from green to glaucous (maybe this is connected to how sunny a place they are growing in?)  The label cernuus on the photo is because that is a name we were given, but I think this name is not valid now, is this correct? Also leaf width was variable, which is one of the things mentioned in the key I have been trying to use.
I must confess - I was so excited to see them  , I was not too scientific in my observations. 

[annew]

You certainly seem to have the knack of flowering them, Gerry.

[Gerry Webster]

You certainly seem to have the knack of flowering them, Gerry.

A recently acquired knack Anne. In earlier years I hesitated to keep them too hot during the summer. Now I know that I can bake them within an inch of their lives & they like it (so far anyhow).

[David Nicholson]

They are, as you say, almost perfect, and the dedication put into growing them is admirable.  It blows our minds away every year (even the poorer years like this year).  Here are portraits of the twelve

Stunning. Thanks Brian (and David).

[David Nicholson]

Made a visit to Lanhydrock House and Garden in Cornwall yesterday (more pics in Rhodo thread, Trees in Parks and Gardens thread, and Visits to Gardens thread.

Loads of these Daffs in drifts which to my eye (untutored!) look like Narcissus poeticus, but may be a hybrid. Those with a tutored eye will put me right!

[Maggi Young]

They must have smelled good, David.... that's (another) of my favourite scents!!

[wooden shoe]

Hi David,
It is pretty close to the wild species but because of the broader sepales I think it might be Narcis poeticus Actaea. But maybe someone else might think different.

I also want to request an identification:
This looks like a cultivar with N. poeticus blended in it. It flowers earlier than N. poeticus but for a long time. I picked the bulbs up after a university terrain had been bulldozered. That terrain had been neglected and full of blackberries for 15 years so it's probably a strong breed if it could survive all that.

Thanks,
Rob

[Gail]

Some of my large daffs;
Altruist
Calverley
Charlie Connor
Dorchester
Filoli
Goldfinger
High Society
Lavender Mist
Misty Glen
Oregon Snow

[Gail]

and...
Phantom
Pipit
Silent Valley
Sportsman
Tutankhamun
Whickham Village