Daffodil Journal 2018-19

I don't know why it never occurred to me that I could order daffodils from Europe. I've been looking for ways to expand my daffodil collection into more of the wild species, especially since these are more fertile and have more diverse bloom times. I want to use them in my daffodil breeding. I recently purchased three species from a nursery in the U.K., and the shipping was only 7 (pounds not dollars). I got two autumn-blooming daffodils: Narcissus broussonettii and N. obsoletus, both natives of Morocco. I also got a form of the species N. tazetta. There is another nursery in California that sells autumn-blooming daffodils. The only thing is that you have to read through a bunch of text and write out an email of what you want, and then send a check in the mail (no web store, I mean). Very old-fashioned. From him I bought twelve bulbs of a strain called 'Autumn Colors', another called 'Autumn Pearl', both of which look like paperwhites but more yellow and blooming in the fall. I also got 'Matador', which is one of the best tazettas used in breeding. As a bonus, I got some oxblood lily and antique freesia bulbs. I've never grown either.

Yesterday I unpotted some of my dormant daffodils. Most of them have increased in size, tightly squeezed against each other in the pot. One, though, 'Orange Comet', had decreased in size and had a white fungus growing on it. I think they're still alive, but I put them in a smaller pot with fresh soil. 'Orange Comet' is a cyclamineus daffodil and I've never had much luck with them. I think it's too wet and humid here. One thing I noticed, though, was that the potting soil in all the pots was quite damp. To prevent any further fungus problems, I'm going to move the pots where they don't get rain and hold off watering them until the fall.

Also, I unpotted my third generation of daffodil seedlings. I now have hundreds of little pea-sized daffodil bulbs. Most of them seem to be jonquilla-like, but three bulbs among the rest looked different. Perhaps they are large-cup daffodils. I can't wait to see them flower in a few years. As of now, the only daffodils I've raised from seed have been the dainty yellow jonquillas.