The Miniature Daffodils are from 2”, the tiniest, to 9” inches high. Most species or hybrids are only a generation removed from the species.
And most, like their taller, 15- to 30-inch relatives, come from the higher elevations of the western Mediterranean and so are at home in poor, gritty, or stony soil, tolerate shade cast by deciduous woody plants, and baking sun in summer.
Used to a Spartan diet, cold winters, and hot summers, they need little food and no protection. If you mulch at all, with a light layer of pine needles or salt hay, it prevents mud from splattering the dainty blossoms.
Reasons For Popularity
Besides good nature, there are many reasons for their popularity. They bloom both earlier and later than the larger types, last a long time in good condition, are useful, inexpensive, and have unusual forms, sweet smells, and perfection on a small scale.
The true miniature is small in all its parts and is not just a large flower on a short stem. Since miniatures are small in all their parts, you must plant them closer together and not as deep as larger bulbs.
Set them 2” to 4” inches deep, depending on the size of the bulb, and leave one and a half times their diameter in space between them.
Locate them in the foreground, preferably near the house where you can enjoy their diminutive size, unusual form, and perfume. They are best seen at eye level. So, if you have a slope, ledge, or flower bed atop a retaining wall or flower box, put them there to show them off.
Earliest To Bloom
The earliest to bloom, the bulbocodium group, sends up grassy foliage in late summer and fall and blooms in winter in the South. These bulbs are hardy north of Washington, but flowers are apt to be nipped by the temperature in the North.
For the North, the dwarf trumpets (as a class) are more reliable early risers. The first of these to flower is Tanagra, a perfect golden trumpet on a 5-inch stem. It blooms during the third week of March in the New York City area.
Other fine, dwarf trumpets are the long-lasting Narcissus obvallaris, small bicolor Bambi, pale yellow Wee Bee, white Rockery Gem, bicolor Rockery Beauty, double Kehelland, and the tiny, 5-inch N. nanus.
Appealing Miniatures
Exceptionally appealing are the miniatures with small or larger cups like:
- 4-inch Marionette with an orange-trimmed yellow cup
- Xit, a hybrid of the lovely
- N. watieri, which is tiny and white
- Lady Bee, pinkish and late
- Taller Pepper with a sparkling, sunproof, orange-red cup
- Nor-Nor is a reliable bicolor
The miniatures come into their own in the species and hybrids of N. triandrus, N. cyclamineus, and N. jonquilla.
These and their offspring have an irresistible charm, perfume, tolerance of all kinds of conditions, and, as a dividend, often give more than one flower per stem.
Pass up the species:
- N. triandrus, if you will, but not the hybrids that stem from it
- Raindrop, considered the loveliest of all miniatures
- Frosty Morn with four flowers on a 6-inch stem
- The taller, Dawn.
Narcissus Cyclamineus
Do not pass up N. cyclamineus. It has a long, slender trumpet and petals that stream out behind it, all delicately balanced on a 4-inch stern. It is early, too, and long-lasting. Its re-flexed petals are found in numerous hybrids derived from it.
They occur in Beryl, Little Witch, Tete-a-Tete, February Gold, and in the scarce, wonderful Charity May, a foot tall.
Narcissus Jonquilla
The N. jonquilla (the only daffodils with a right to the name jonquil) have reedy foliage, intense fragrance, and often several flowers to a stem. Two or three can perfume a room.
Hybrid Jonquils
Hybrid jonquils are many and fine. There are:
- April Tears, which ranks with Raindrop in popularity
- Bobbysoxer
- Flomay
- Kidling
- Orange Queen
- Sun Disc
- Pencrebar is the old Queen Anne’s Double Jonquil which resembles a tiny, yellow rose.
Narcissus Rupicola And Narcissus Watieri
Jonquils, like the species N. juncifolius and its hybrids, are easy to grow. The tiny, lovely N. rupicola and N. watieri which sit on their stems instead of turning at right angles like most daffodils are a bit more difficult but very worthwhile.
You won’t find the tiny daffs at your local garden stores. Look for them in bulb specialists’ catalogs (one handles nothing else). And if you cannot find a source, write to me, care of POPULAR GARDENING.
44659 by George S. Lee, Jr.