'Odoratus'

'Odoratus' is one of the daffodils so old that it gets away with having a Latin cultivar name. Current horticultural convention prohibits Latin names, probably to ease confusion between man-made cultivars and natural varieties.

The Daffseek database says 'Odoratus' was found on the Isles of Scilly. I didn't know where that was, so I looked it up. They are southwest of England (northwest of France), and part of the United Kingdom.

'Odoratus' is a Tazetta daffodil with white petals and deep yellow or orange coronae. Unlike most other Tazettas, which I find to have a heady, almost spicy scent, 'Odoratus' smells like sweet, ripe apricots. The bulbs are huge and send up multiple stems.

I read that 'Odoratus' is seed and pollen fertile (on Daffseek), but after days of pollinating the flowers with just about every kind of daffodil pollen I could find, no seeds set. We'll have to wait to see if any pollen was able to fertilize other varieties.

'Odoratus'

'Odoratus' in the sun

'Odoratus' in cloudy weather

Another of 'Odoratus' in the sun for good measure

This was one of my favorite new daffodils. I hope it blooms as well next year.

As a bonus, from the same roll and same day as the sunny photos of 'Odoratus', a view from our lake house. The film is Ektar 100.

'Stella' and 'Sweetness'

After N. jonquilla var. henriquesii, next to bloom were 'Stella' and 'Sweetness'. By the way, we really need a shorter name for N. jonquilla var. henriquesii. Maybe "Henriques' jonquil". In any case, I was surprised by 'Stella'. It was my first time growing it. It has a nice fragrance reminiscent of large cup daffodils. 'Sweetness' is fragrant also, but more akin to a jonquil. Both are historic daffodil cultivars.

'Sweetness' has grown on me over the years. I've had it as long as 'Trevithian'. I bought six bulbs of each about ten years ago. While 'Trevithian' has gone from six bulbs to over a thousand and has a massive display every year, 'Sweetness' is a slow and steady increaser with a more modest display. I love 'Sweetness', though, because it blooms almost a month earlier; one of the first daffodils of spring always. 'Sweetness' and 'Trevitian' have similar flower size and fragrance, although 'Sweetness' is more narrow and elongated.

I tried pollinating both 'Sweetness' and 'Stella'. Both are likely sterile; no seeds set.

'Sweetness'

'Sweetness'

'Stella'

'Stella'

'Stella'

'Sweetness' with N. jonquilla var. henriquesii

'Stella' with 'Sweetness'

'Stella' is so graceful, and 'Sweetness' is so handsome. They make a fine couple.

Lent lilies

I didn't realize until this year that my grandfather's house has daffodils growing around it. Along the side are growing some lent lilies (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), a wild daffodil native to northwestern Europe and part of the parentage of many of the garden trumpet daffodils. They look like they've set seed, too, so I'll collect them.

Lent lilies (Narcissus pseudonarcissus)

Double Exposures

I tried out some double exposures with the Velvia 100 film I got recently.

Nunn-Winston House with flowering quince

Trumpet daffodil and flowering quince, both in the gardens around the Nunn-Winston house.

Snowflakes from my garden, on the same roll

My scanner had trouble with the double exposures. They were a little underexposed, and I think I just don't yet know how to scan them well yet. The actual slides look amazing. The scanner had no problem with the snowflakes. I'm loving Velvia 100 so far. I'll definitely keep shooting with it.

Lotion Recipe

I'm not a huge fan of lotion. I don't like slimy or sticky things on me, or anything that feels heavy. But, my hands and feet dry out a lot, especially in winter or when wearing sandals. For the most part, I've used oils instead of lotion. I now run a drop or two of argan oil through my hair and over my face after a shower. It absorbs quickly. I like coconut oil on my hands and feet. Recently, though, I experienced the wonders of glycerin. My heels were pretty severely cracked, and glycerin softened and smoothed them up in a week. My hands were cracking and peeling, too, after building spray guns at work. Glycerin cured that almost instantly. Another great thing I've come upon lately is squalane, a component of olive oil that has essentially the same properties as squalene, which skin produces naturally. I made a lotion recipe which I quite like. I put it in a little bottle that pumps a small amount at a time.

2 parts rose water glycerin mixture (You can buy this at stores, or alternatively dilute one part pure glycerin with two or three parts water.)

2 parts jojoba oil (a liquid wax)

1 part squalane

A few drops of argan oil or other plant oil

Shake bottle before each use until it forms a milky golden emulsion. Put a small amount in hands and rub together before applying. Allow to dry.

Daffodil Journal Preview

Today I was looking up how to develop color film at home. Apparently you can get a full setup for under $200 and it takes less than 10 minutes to develop a roll. I may get into that next. The daffodils have been blooming for two weeks and I'm still waiting to get my film back from the lab. :/

Today I took some photos on my phone of daffodils currently blooming, just to get a snapshot of what's going on currently. As I may have said before, I've moved to growing most of my daffodils in terracotta pots. It allows me to control temperatures, lighting, and watering more precisely. It also makes them easy to photograph and easy to move out of the rain (helpful this week, for sure). 

'Abba', a double sport of 'Cragford' (see below). Fragrant. Some flowers had dead tissue. Maybe the humidity?

'Bittern', just opened today. Looking forward to seeing how it develops.

'Cragford', fragrant tazetta, sport parent of 'Abba' (see above)

'Grand Primo', a famous heirloom tazetta. The cups started out light yellow, then faded to white. Pollen is dark orange. Fragrant.

I bought this as N. elegans var. intermedius in 2007. I think it was mislabeled, as N. elegans is a fall-bloomer with white flowers. It's probably N. x intermedius, though I'm not sure of that either. In any case, it has tiny flowers: perhaps the smallest of all my daffodils. It hasn't flowered in several years but now it's flowering again.

'Odoratus'. I absolutely love this one. It is my first time growing it. The flowers smell like ripe apricots.

'Princeps', another heirloom daffodil. My first time growing it. The flowers are quite large and nicely fragrant.

I'm pretty sure this is 'Pueblo', but it's one of the daffodils I dug out of the yard last fall. The confusion is why I decided to move to pots. It's like a white 'Trevithian'.

'Trevithian' - well, I've raved a lot about this one on this blog. The ones in pots are way ahead of the ones in the ground, which will flower in a week or two.

This is an unknown daffodil to me. I don't think it bloomed last year, because I don't remember it. I'll have to look at my records to try to find out what it is. It looks like a Jonquilla hybrid.

Busy-ness

Since when is being busy a status symbol? I believe it is a status symbol; it indicates what it did in the ancient world: low status, slavery. Someone who doesn't have enough time for others may think of himself as important, but I think of him as deprived and poor. What man in history ever boasted of wealth because of what he lacked being able to give? Time is no different. A slave is unable to give because he lacks and not free to give because he is not free. Only the slave and the poor are unable to do what they want because of what they lack. The rich are at leisure. Sometimes a salary and a title are enemies of leisure, and so what status do they really confer? So a busy person is a slave; that is his status.