Garden Bulbs – Daffodils

Daffodils and tulips are amongst the most exciting and popular families of spring flow­ering bulbs. Known botanically as Narcis­sus, the daffodils and those popularly called narcissus, embrace a diversity of shape, form and size unequalled in the bulb king­dom. The newcomer to gardening is usually tempted by old well tried cottage garden types like ‘Golden Harvest’, ‘King Alfred’ and ‘Carlton’. Cheap and cheerful kinds that give a dependable show with the mini­mum of effort. Commendable though they are, these old stagers have been surpassed now by varieties like ‘Rembrandt’, ‘Unsur­passable’ and the quite startling sulphur­ous-yellow ‘Spellbinder’. ‘Ice Follies’ dominates the creamy-white daffodil var­ieties, while ‘Mrs. R. O. Backhouse’ is a lovely shell pink and ‘Texas’ and ‘Ingles-combe’ reliable double yellow sorts. For something out of the ordinary we must turn to the ever popular, fully double tazetta narcissus ‘Cheerfulness’, a richly fragrant kind with exotic-looking creamy blossoms. This can be grown outside successfully in most places, but is really a plant of the cottage window sill.

The various kinds that are loosely termed ‘narcissus’ by gardeners are those with broad flat faces and small brightly coloured trumpets. Indeed, one could say that ‘Ger­anium’ and ‘Actaea’ typify this class, although technically each belongs to its own division within the narcissus classification.

Apart from traditional daffodils and nar­cissus there are myriad dwarf varieties and species suitable for the rock garden, tubs or pots. Of these the most important are the dwarf trumpet kinds. Complete miniature replicas of the large flowered varieties and rarely exceeding 15 cm (6in) in height, they are usually represented by Narcissus astur-iensis and N. nanus, or occasionally the lovely little Tenby Daffodil, N. lobularis. A complete contrast is provided by the hoop petticoats. Elegant creatures whose ex­panded globular trumpets dance and frolic in the breeze amongst narrow rushlike foli­age. Narcissus bulbocodium typifies the hoop petticoat daffodil, but its many varieties, amongst them conspicuus and citrinus, pro­duce blossoms of better substance and col­our. Although popularly assigned to the rock garden both the hoop petticoats and cyclamen flowered narcissus are perfect for naturalizing in grass.

Despite the daffodil breeders having worked extensively with the cyclamineus narcissus, none of their efforts can compare with the charm and elegance exhibited by the true species, N. cyclamineus. Delicately sculptured blossoms, described most aptly by that great daffodil expert E. A. Bowles as having reflexed petals ‘like the ears laid back of a kicking horse’, are carried on slender stems scarcely 15 cm (6 in) high amongst a waving sea of grassy foliage. The advantage of growing N. cyclamineus is that it flowers so early. In favourable districts it will pro­vide a show from early spring, a characteris­tic shared by its large flowered progeny, ‘February Gold’, ‘Peeping Tom’ and ‘Jack Snipe’, which makes them worth consider­ing too. Indeed, these latter, apart from flowering early, remain in bloom for several weeks, particularly if grown in a semi-shaded location.

Angel’s tears, N. triandrus var. albus, is not so amenable to cultivation in the open, although it will happily colonize a well-drained pocket on the rock garden. To see it to greatest advantage it should be grown in a pan in a cool place indoors where its creamy-white blossoms can be observed at eye-level. Varieties with shades that vary from off-white to rich golden-yellow are available as well as larger hybrids in which the triandrus character predominates. Most famous of these is the lovely cool icy-white ‘Thalia’. Equally well loved, the jonquils comprise not only the renowned sweetly scented, old fashioned N. jonquilla with its myriad bright golden blossoms, but other interesting characters like the tiny N.junci-folius and its cousin N. rupicola. Both have richly scented short-cupped blossoms, deep green rush-like foliage, and an ability to flourish in our fickle climate.