The title I’ve chosen is not merely figuratively true. The daffodils actually are growing up. They are getting taller and bolder, more sophisticated, and prettier.
The ungraceful creatures of the first decade of our century made room for RED BEACON and RED CHIEF.
They, in turn, made room, in the next decade, for daffodils of the BERNARDINO, CROESUS, and DIANA KASNER types.
And now, all of a sudden, the good new daffodils, those raised in the 30s, are among us, in quantity and at reasonable prices.
Not only has the little daffodil grown up, but it also has a new dress and make-up. It has new vigor and new resistance.
In short, we might as well admit it, and we are beginning to deal with a different breed of daffodils altogether.
New Daffodils Appearing
These new daffodils are appearing at our flower shows, being discussed at garden club meetings, and already making a place for themselves in the stores of our florists.
Any visitor to this year’s spring shows must have been struck by the great progress made with the brightly colored, short-cupped varieties.
Looking up boldly from long, wiry stems, daffodils were a nightmare to flower show committees since their size and weight made the old daffodil vases hopelessly inadequate.
What are these new daffodils, and how are they new and different?
How About The Charming Old Varieties?
Many gardeners may well ask if the old and charming varieties we have known for years are not still our best buy?
As usual in such cases, the answer to this question is both “yes” and “no.”
The old varieties of merit will, I hope, always be with us. But I do not believe that VANSION, that fat yellow ugly duckling which flowered first in 1620, and similar obviously obsolete varieties have any right these days to propagate further, bought, or sold.
There are, however, other old varieties, not dating back to the 17th century but varieties now some 30 or 40 years old, that are still very good.
For instance, HERA and QUEEN OF THE NORTH are still unsurpassed for flower arrangements and naturalizing.
These little daffodils have flowers that are beautifully colored that have the right proportion between the size of the flower, length of the stem, and type of foliage.
They have small bulbs that do not seem to crowd each other out so that they can be left in the ground for years, to be cut and cut again whenever we want a breath of spring in the house.
There is also JOHN EVELYN which, when grown from selected, strong stocks, still has more grace and charm than many a high-priced novelty.
In fact, a well-grown JOHN EVELYN with good color can beat almost any of the finest new introductions.
Then, too, we must give due regard to ACTAEA, that grandest of all poeticus varieties, standing straight up on a tall, wiry stein, with a flower that is just about perfect and yet not too regular of features nor too impersonally faultless.
Other Notable Older Varieties
Other older varieties of lasting value are, for instance, DAWSON CITY, the best shape of all the cheaper yellow trumpet daffodils.
I, for one, prefer DAWSON CITY to KING ALFRED for garden use and also for growing in pots in the cool greenhouse.
I can go down the list and mention others, old varieties like MRS. R. O. BACKHOUSE, still the very best of the salmon pinks.
CARLTON and HAVELOCK, both enormously tall, fine, well-proportioned self-colored yellow incomparabilis types that are hard to beat, and DAMSON, cheap, pretty, and colorful.
TIIALIA, the “orchid” or “butterfly” daffodil, is the whitest and the grandest of all the multiflowered ones.
TIIALIA defies all conventions. It is unruly, twisty, and refuses to dress up and straighten out for exhibitions or shows, like the tow-headed youngster with hair all ruffled who is enjoying a grand day in the country with tails out and a happy face.
Some of the old double varieties are still very much worthwhile.
ROYAL SOVEREIGN, that most perfectly colored and beautifully formed variety which should be in every garden.
TWINK, one of the showiest and best all-purpose doubles, and N. ALDUS MENUS ODORATUS, the old DOUBLE WHITE, which is a treasure if you can grow it.
There is also the lovely QUEEN ANNE’S DAFFODIL, the double, true jonquil.
What Makes New Daffodil Introductions Beautiful?
None of these older daffodils is perfect in modern English show daffodils.
It is their all-purpose soundness, their beauty throughout the years, their inherent good qualities, and ruggedness that show up in the garden under adverse conditions that make them popular.
Many oldtimers are an incredible bargain at the new, low, postwar prices, cheap enough to be bought in large numbers for cutting and naturalizing.
Mentioning these older varieties, favorites for many years of all discerning gardeners, it suddenly dawns on me what makes them good. What makes some of the new introductions of recent years so startlingly beautiful.
It is not only the size of the new ones, not only the long wiry stems, nor is it just the pose or the poise or the color.
It is simply that through years of breeding and painstaking selection, all these qualities have been combined and re-combined into a pleasing and well-balanced whole.
New Daffodils: Better Editions
The new daffodils are better editions of the very choicest old ones.
We have seen colorful daffodils on the show bench and in trial gardens, large and perfectly formed daffodils.
It is not, however, until now that we can have all these qualities in such wide new varieties at fair prices. But, of course, perfection is not cheap.
The daffodils that have all the good qualities and none of them had are still rare, but they do exist, and they already appear in catalogs and at flower shows, a clear indication and a signal that more and more of them are on the way.
Cycles Of Good Daffodils
Good daffodils come in cycles. Each cycle is marked by the birth of one or more outstanding varieties, which set new standards of comparison and impart good qualities to seedling’s offspring through seed or pollen.
KING ALFRED and MADAME DE GRAAFF were varieties of that type. FORTUNE and Tux were two others.
As soon as each became available, it was used extensively and successfully in breeding.
It imparted its good qualities to its offspring, often overshadowing or eliminating poorer qualities inherent in the plants with which it was mated.
I would now like to mention some of the outstanding new daffodils. To do that, I only have to think about the past spring season.
It was a poor one, the poorest I have experienced in my 20 years of growing daffodils in Oregon.
We had rain and more rain, hail, snow, and heavy storms almost every day, and for the entire flowering season, but one short afternoon of sunshine.
The daffodils that stood up in this weather, the flowers that were not blown down, that were not torn to shreds, that lived through snow and hail, are the ones that will stand up in our American gardens where conditions can often be equally harsh.
It is these varieties that I should like to list for you, knowing that they are already, and will be for many years to come, good, dependable daffodils.
Outstanding Varieties For Naturalizing
As usual, our season began this year with FEBRUARY GOLD flowering in the snow flurries.
In my opinion, this variety is still outstanding for naturalizing, growing in pots or pans, and early forcing in the greenhouse or sunroom.
Close to it in flower date but some five times larger are the two early giant daffodils:
- DIOTIMA, golden yellow, beautifully star-shaped, and well poised
- ADA FINCH is a creamy white, frothy trumpet daffodil that is unique.
The Fortune seedling WHITELEY GEM flowers next, and the King Alfred seedling ALASNAM follows very closely.
From then on, we are in the daffodil season, and flowers of all shapes, colors, and forms abound.
The really outstanding ones this year were:
- CARBINEER and RUSTOM PASHA among the red and golden yellow
- ST. EGWIN and ST. ISSEY among the self-colored, short-cupped yellows
- BOSEGARLAND among the new British pinks
- POLINDRA, GRAYLING, and COVE-RACK PERFECTION exemplified the very best in new daffodils
All three are tall, have beautiful proportions, and are both show and garden daffodils of merit.
Barri Class “Short-Cupped Daffodils”
In the barri class–the very short-cupped, brightly colored daffodils– BRIDEGROOM stood out for its heavy substance and good form.
The extremely late yellow barn called DINKIE is a most unusual flower, almost like a golden yellow poeticus and very beautiful.
BINKIE, an Australian incomparabilis novelty with a whitish cup and lemon-yellow perianth, and GRAPEFRUIT, a huge grapefruit-colored trumpet daffodil, were two varieties of a still newer type that stood up in the weather and that attracted a great deal of attention because of their unique coloring.
Most Expensive Modern Hybrids
I purposely do not mention some of the latest and most expensive hybrids.
However, stocks of BROUGH-SHANE, probably the best white trumpet, and KRAKATOA, reputed to be the best yellow and gold, are accumulating in this country.
Moreover, varieties like these and many others among the latest novelties are already being offered in retail catalogs and on the show benches.
I believe, however, that as long as we can buy good modern daffodils, all at very reasonable prices, from many sources and in the best, fully acclimated quality–we had better wait to see how the latest introductions stand up in a few more years of trial before we suggest to any amateur gardener that he spend more than $5 for a daffodil bulb.
Here are some examples of good modern daffodils.
Among the jonquil tribe are:
- GOLDEN PERFECTION
- SIERRA GOLD
Among the incomparabilis:
- GOLDEN PEDESTAL
- NOVA SCOTIA
- HADES
Among the barri:
- LADY KESTEVIN
- ECLAIR
- EDITH
Among the leedsi:
- DAISY SCHAFFER
- DELAWARE
- E. H. WILSON
- TUNIS
Among the white trumpets:
- BEERSHEBA
- ESKIMO
Among the yellow trumpets:
- STATENDAM
- MOUNT ROYAL
Growing Well-bred And Carefully Selected Daffodil Varieties
The daffodils are growing up. We now have a younger generation of well-bred, carefully selected varieties.
The rapid communication with other growing sections, now possible here and abroad, has already opened vistas of the daffodil of the future.
These new daffodils include:
- New clear rose-pinks
- Lemon-yellows
- Doubles
- Multiflowered
- Ivory-colored hybrids
Like many of the varieties already discussed in this article, they will have long stems and pleasing proportions.
They will have fine, esthetically satisfying colors. I believe the major gain for our life has already been made, the elimination of what has proven to be second-rate, the accumulation of sufficient stocks of good varieties suited to our conditions so that they can be supplied at fair prices.
Of course, there is still room for further improvement. Many of us, the breeders, are working toward remote goals, plants that will be still more satisfactory, more in keeping with what can be expected of good daffodils.
All of us are working and waiting, hoping that among our seedlings, there will be another KING ALFRED, MADAME DE GRAAFF, TUNIS or FORTUNE, daffodils that for their time and in their environment were so important in furthering our common cause the beautifying of our gardens.
At the same time, our daffodil breeders like Guy Wilson, Lionel Richardson, Barr & Sons, Edwin Powell, Frank Reinelt, Grant Mitseh, and the many breeders in Australia and New Zealand of us can well look back on our work over the past 25 years with considerable pride.