Winter Narcissus - to early 2012

[Martin Baxendale]

Lesley, who says I sleep with clothes on? No jim jams on me 

Too much information, Mark 

[JimF]

Part two of small narcissus I'm growing:

N. 'Pledge' upon opening
N. 'Pledge' 6 days later. I like this color phase

N. 'Wedding Morn' front and profile views.

N. pallidiflorus front and profile views. From Beth Chatto who got it from Cedric Morris. I put its pollen on 'Wedding Morn' without knowing if compatible; but WM's stigma pulled the pollen off my hand like a magnetic from about an 1/16th of an inch away! Proving opposites do attract even in narcissus.

Jim

[annew]

Cecil Nice is on Daffseek:
http://daffseek.org/query/query-detail.php?value1=Cecil%20Nice&lastpage=1&
I looked up the delightful Jana, and it falls into the annoyingly imprecise 'Dwarf - less than 32.5 cm (12.8 in)' category. Such a description is of no use at all, and makes me want to SHOUT!
A very nice selection, Jim. I'll be interested to know if you get fertile seeds from your cross. Crossing hoops and trumpets always fails with me.

[JimF]

Jim is Jana a miniature?

'Jana' was in bloom at about 9 inches high, then brought indoors to the nursery's south window and in artificial heat for 5 days, so is now about 12+- inches tall, the stems promptly bending over when put outside yesterday.

The flower is about 2 inches wide and 2.5"+- long from trumpet to back swept petals. It's the latter which bother me about the i.d. Some photos show petals swept back in a non-uniform way, where as mine is very symmetrical.

It was dug from the very same clump as pictured in Graham's "The Garden Through the Year" book, which it doesn't quite match.

[JimF]

Cecil Nice is on Daffseek:
http://daffseek.org/query/query-detail.php?value1=Cecil%20Nice&lastpage=1&
I looked up the delightful Jana, and it falls into the annoyingly imprecise 'Dwarf - less than 32.5 cm (12.8 in)' category. Such a description is of no use at all, and makes me want to SHOUT!
A very nice selection, Jim. I'll be interested to know if you get fertile seeds from your cross. Crossing hoops and trumpets always fails with me.

Anne:
I used Daffseek for 'Jana' but didn't even think of it for 'Cecil Nice'. Thank you very much. I'll check it out.

Re. 'Jana', no wonder it was hard for me to decide if it was a miniature or not. Graham used to grow it in his rough grass and orchard at his first 'Briar Cottage' garden, so I assumed it had to have some height to be seen. He always kept the smallest ones nearer the house or rough grass edges in both 'Briar Cottage' gardens.

Re: the cross - as I always tell customers "thank goodness the plants don't always read the books!"

[annew]

I should have said nearly always fails. I got seedlings of asturiensis x hedreanthus.

[Rafa]

I don't know if I am following correctly the thread, is there a cultivar called 'Eugenae' the one which is pale and sterile? Thes species I mentioned as syn of N. confusus is 'Eugeniae' which hasn't got any known pale forms. As Anne said, I think this pale trumpet is a cultivar, but as I have seen pale forms in a N. confusus locality maybe it could also happen in a  locality traditionally known as N. eugeniae., but I have never heard about it.

The name 'Eugeniae' is in honour to Maria Eugenia.

Anne, let me think about your hedraeathus question. Contrary to what I usually do, this time I don't dare be too adventurous, without knowing the collection localities or if N. hedraeanthus has scent. Apart from the huge variability that N. blancoi has, that offers a wide range of posible interpretations in order to be to be assimilated by N. hedraeanthus, the scent would be a stronger argument (at least for me) to defend N. blancoi as a separate species.  I am sure there will be different alkaloids in N. hedraeantus and N. blancoi, probably you will find alkaloids in N. blancoi that you could also find in cantabricus/albicans complex, but you won't find them in N. hedraeanthus.... but this is only my intuition.

[johnw]

Jim - Pledge is very nice. How small is it?

johnw

[Gerry Webster]

I don't know if I am following correctly the thread, is there a cultivar called 'Eugenae' the one which is pale and sterile? Thes species I mentioned as syn of N. confusus is 'Eugeniae' which hasn't got any known pale forms. As Anne said, I think this pale trumpet is a cultivar, but as I have seen pale forms in a N. confusus locality maybe it could also happen in a  locality traditionally known as N. eugeniae., but I have never heard about it.

Rafa - I assumed that 'Eugenae' was a typo (which I carelessly repeated in my comment). 

[JimF]

Jim - Pledge is very nice. How small is it?

johnw

About 9+- inches tall with flowers about 2.5 inches across and 2.5 inches in depth. It's a larger flowered miniature in my mind, but very well proportioned. Here's a link at daffseek with a ruler next to the flower which matches what I thought. http://daffseek.org/query/query-detail.php?value1=Pledge&lastpage=1&

It is classed as a miniature. That's what I'm keen on, especially all the Alex Gray hybrids which I find hard to track down - or to find the more common ones without virus. Just tossed a new 'Quince' where the emerging leaves were green and yellow striped from virus. And where can a person find a virus free 'Tete a Tete" anymore?

Jim

[JimF]

I don't know if I am following correctly the thread, is there a cultivar called 'Eugenae' the one which is pale and sterile? Thes species I mentioned as syn of N. confusus is 'Eugeniae' which hasn't got any known pale forms.

My typo, too, in part of this thread, Rafa. I meant Eugeniae. Time for a new prescription on my glasses.

Jim

[Peppa]

Jim, please bring some of your beautiful plants to our chapter meeting next week!

[annew]

The name 'Eugeniae' is in honour to Maria Eugenia.

Mea culpa  My apologies to Maria Eugenia.

[David Nicholson]

Some of the smaller narcissus in bloom the past couple of weeks here in my Bellevue/Seattle patio garden:

N. 'Cecil Nice' (3 views) named for the head gardener of Nymans, UK, decades ago, possibly by Graham Thomas whom Mr. Nice gave it to as "something special". Any idea of its parentage? I like how the bud is like a balloon as it opens. The top three to four petals remain stuck together at the tips for at least a day before finally breaking apart into the star shape.

N. 'Gypsy Queen' with is so foward looking, like a deer or dog listening to something ahead. 2 photos

N. 'Jana' (1 view) again from Graham Thomas from another friend. Does anyone know it well enough to say it's correct? I find two different flowers under that name online. It's tall, about 13" when at peak.

N. 'Midget' (1 view). It is a midget, the flowers not above the leaves, but poking out. Very cute.

Jim,


According to Daffseek N. 'Cecil Nice' was raised by John Blanchard and was first registered in 1997. It was a self sown seedling with N. cyclamineus as the seed parent.  Nice example Jim.

http://daffseek.org/query/query-detail.php?value1=Cecil%20Nice&lastpage=1&

As far as N. 'Jana' is concerned, again according to Daffseek, this is an old Alec Gray raising (prior to 1949). Seed parent Ncyclamineus, pollen parent N. G L Wilson (Y-R seedling). Lots of pics on Dafsfeek

http://daffseek.org/query/query-detail.php?value1=Jana&lastpage=1&

[Rafa]

Oh sorry Anne, nothing to apologize. I just thought 'Eugenae' could be a cultivar selection from N. eugeniae F. Casas. There are so many names in cultivars that all is possible...