* 2. Bicolor Trumpet Daffodils. N. bicolor, N. b. grandis, N. Dean Herbert, 3. White or sulphur Trumpet Daffodils. N. cernuus, N. moschatus, N. tortuosus, N. 4. Pigmy Trumpet Daffodils. N. minimus, N. minor, N. nanus. 5. Polyanthus Trumpet Daffodils. Examples: N. tridymus, N. Mastersianus, N. Macleayi, &c. The Daffodils have long been and yet are a most interesting study. There is a tradition that Sweet, the botanist, went mad whilst trying to straighten out or unravel the knotted string which holds the whole bunch of these golden Daffodils together, and that modern students of these plants are also suspected of "having a bee in their bonnets goes without the saying. Quite recently I have had a great treat, a gentleman having placed in my hands a large bundle of Haworth's letters and MSS. written about the year 1830. These letters are to a Daffodil lover most interesting. Haworth it was who, in separating the Narcissi into sub-genera, proposed the name of Ajax for all the larger kinds of Daffodils, and for the smaller ones, such as N. abscissus, the name of Oileus, or, as it is put in the "Iliad," In writing to the Rev. Mr. Ellacombe, then of Bitton Vicarage, in the year 1831, under date April 16, Haworth is in great spirits, having just succeeded in rediscovering Narcissus cernuus, which it seems probable he only previously knew from books or figures. Here is what he says: 66 And your Ajax tortuosus is verily Ajax cernuus! Thus have you the merit of discovering both the double first, and then the single of this matchless, modest, drooping, and long-neglected beauty. The flower of your specimen was withered, collapsed, and colourless, but it was the beautiful cernuus in ruins, and, what is singular, the day, I think, your last letter from me was written, I also found the single of this favourite of yours and mine in the Fulham nursery!" There are many other remarks and notes of interest on Narcissi, their wild habitats, and nomenclature in these Haworthian MSS., that I cannot now find time to transcribe, but some day I hope to study them more thoroughly. Our present object is to direct attention to the best of these Daffodils, old and new, and to indicate the best way in which they may be made to add beauty and variety to the outdoor spring garden. For practical convenience we shall class the numerous varieties into three sections, viz.: 1, Golden Daffodils; 2, Bicolor Daffodils; and 3, White Daffodils. Of the first, or GOLDEN DAFFODILS, the finest, I think, is N. maximus, which in good, rich, light soils attains a height of 2 feet to 3 feet, bearing its great golden flowers aloft in defiance alike of wind and rain. Some growers prefer N. lorifolius var. Emperor, which is also a stately variety, but paler in colour, with more broadly imbricated perianth segments. The mention of these two varieties side by side brings us to another view of this goldenflowered group of Daffodils, since it is composed of two sets of varieties, which vary from the dwarfest to the tallest of varieties in two parallel sets or sub-sections. Not unfrequently the two commonest of dwarf kinds, N. minor and N. nanus, are confounded with each other in gardens, but N. nanus is easily known by its broadly * This was in part, even if not wholly, the truth. That he died in Bedlam is a fact, and as this occurred soon after a visit to Mr. Ellacombe, Sen., at Bitton, so the story arose. F. W. B. imbricated perianth segments, while in N. minor the segments are narrower and barely overlap each other. Thus, starting from N. minor, we have a range of ascending varieties, until the culminating point of perfection, so far as size and stature are concerned, is reached in N. maximus. On the other hand, starting with the broad-pellated N. nanus, we find a set of varieties ascending in like manner until N. Emperor is reached, as the largest of the group. Of course, as in all natural arrangements. we find exceptions, or what appear to be such, to the untrained eye; but, practically speaking, these two parallel groups exist, and it is quite easy to refer any single variety to either one or the other of them. The most robust and effective of the Golden Daffodils for ordinary garden culture are N. maximus, N. major, N. rugilobus, N. Emperor, N. princeps, N. obvallaris, N. abscissus, N. nobilis, N. minor, N. nanus, and N. minimus, the last the veriest pigmy of all the Daffodils, flowering at 1 inch or 2 inches above the soil. It is more curious than effective as a garden flower, but being rare it is of course very highly valued by all connoisseurs of Daffodils. When we come to the broad-leaved BICOLOR DAFFODIL group, we find it comprises some of the most effective of varieties. They are mostly distinguished by having a white perianth around a golden. crown- "Apples of gold in baskets of silver," as an old author says of them. In this group are N. bicolor, N. b. breviflos, N. b. Horsfieldi, N. b. Empress, N. b. grandis, N. b. J. B. M. Camm, and N. b. Mrs. J. B. M. Camm. N. bicolor Dean Herbert and Michael Foster belong to this group, although their perianth segments are sulphur or primrose tinted. Perhaps N. Horsfieldi is the best of all this section for general culture and effect in gardens, although N. bicolor grandis and N. bicolor Dean Herbert are very bold and beautiful, and when more readily obtainable in quantity they will become favourite garden flowers. Grown in pots for spring flowering in the greenhouse, N. Horsfieldi is one of the most showy of all hardy bulbs, and roots of it potted up will bloom in March quite readily. THE WHITE DAFFODILS have a peculiar charm of their own, and are likewise very beautiful when grown in pots in the greenhouse. It should be borne in mind, however, that artificial heat is not necessary in their culture-all they require being shelter from wind and rain. In warm, light, rich soils they are perfectly hardy. The three old varieties are N. cernuus, N. tortuosus, and N. albicans, but of late years several seedlings have been added to this group, such as N. cernuus pulcher. N. W. P. Milneri, N. William Goldring, N. Mr. C. W. Cowan, N. Exquisite, N. F. W. Burbidge, Dr. Hogg, Mrs. F. W. Burbidge, Rebecca Syme, and one or two others not at present fully determined. Parkinson tells us that originally these lovely white Daffodils came from Spain, and Haworth described four varieties, three of which are now well known in gardens. The largest of these is N. albicans, in which the trumpet is the corona, is longer than the perianth segments, and has an elegantly expanded trumpet-like mouth. N. tortuosus is smaller, having a straight trumpet scalloped at the mouth, while the perianth divisions are all more or less twisted, and have a high-shouldered appearance quite unmistakable when once seen. N. cernuus is one of the smallest of the group-an elegant plant-the perianth divisions being nearly as long as the pale sulphur crown. Of this plant we have two very rare double-flowered varieties-N. cernuus fl.-pl. and N. cernuus bicinctus. All these varieties are very beautiful, and are well deserving of careful pot culture in all gardens where it has been found impossible to grow them in the open air. All agree in having white perianth segments, and the crowns of all are of a sulphur colour on first expansion, gradually changing to white. THE CULTURE OF DAFFODILS Generally is of the most simple kind, and one of the most pleasing of all the spring effects in our gardens is absent where they are not. Even a clump or two of the common old double yellow kind in a cottage garden brightens up all around it; and planting bold beds or masses of these bulbs along the margins of woods, or even in the grass of lawns and in home meadows where they do not naturally exist, is a means of adding beauty to natural vegetation of such localities, for, as some one well said, a group of golden Daffodils on the young grass is as "sunshine in a shady place." When planted in quantity, one of the results gained is a plentiful supply of flowers for cutting and of all spring blossoms these are the best for the indoor decoration of vase or pitcher. A handful of common yellow Daffodils with a good length of fluted stalk, placed daintily in an old brown jug with a few green leaves, or with slender Willow shoots when silvery buds or "pussies" grace them, is a picture that all may enjoy. There is no garden so small, no home so humble, in which these golden Daffodowndillies may not be grown and enjoyed. In large country places they should be planted along the grassy margins of walks, "beside the lake beneath the trees," where they may dance, and sway, and nod, and flutter, as well becometh the joyous sisters of "an April Daffodilly." THE NEW HYBRID NARCISSI. Even in this, the nineteenth century, it is a marvel to many how astronomers can allude definitely and accurately to any one particular star in the blue vault above, and, in like manner, these beautiful “earth stars” among the seedling Narcissi are so thickly besprinkled, and, to an untrained eye, so seemingly alike, that the wonder to an ordinary observer is how it becomes possible to distinguish one from another. In both cases it is easy when one has the knowledge. Of a certainty many Narcissi are very nearly alike, but not so similar as are many other things, animate and inanimate, which are, nevertheless, quite different. When the tourist meets a flock of mountain sheep, they seem to him as "like as two Peas;" but the chances are that the sleek colley dog behind them does not think so any more than does the shepherd his master, and so those who best know the varieties of Narcissus may tell us how they vary. To my mind it is by no means difficult to see the variation in these hybrids, especially when they are grown in quantity in beds or masses, for, apart from their flowers, many of the kinds differ much in breadth or tint of leafage, or in time of blooming, as well as in floral details. A man who can distinguish the differences in, say a hundred varieties of Potatoes, or the same number of Apples, need have no difficulty in doing the same for these our favourite flowers of spring. And yet those who can point out by name any one of a hundred or more of unnamed show Roses will frankly tell you that the new seedling Narcissi are too much alike." The truth really is, that seedling Narcissi are quite as distinct as are named Tulips, Hyacinths, Gladioli, Roses, Pansies, or a dozen other groups of hardy flowers, of which numerous varieties have been raised from seeds; but whereas all these have long been known, the hybrid Narcissi are of quite recent birth, one may the less wonder at their being less well known. The history of the hybrid Narcissi is a very interesting one, and, as often happens-more often, perhaps, than horticulturists are apt to imagine— Dame Nature seems to have been ahead of the gardener, and we find natural hybrids in the Alpine meadows. Thus, Dr. Henon, who made a special study of the wild French species, tells us, "The station of Lattes, near Montpelier, is remarkable in that it offers many species mixed in the same neadow (N. poeticus, angustifolius, biflorus, Tazetta), as well as a considerable quantity of intermediate forms, varieties, or hybrids. In 1840, along with MM. Dunal, Delile, and Bouchet, I asserted that at this station might be seen all the passages from N. poeticus to N. Tazetta passing through N. biflorus without any appreciable line of demarcation. This assertion was at the time strongly criticised; but verification being made on the spot with M. Delile, it was established that the fact was beyond doubt." N. Bernardi has long been recognized as a distinct natural hybrid, to be found in Pyrenean meadows wherever N. poeticus and N. muticus (J. Gay) grow together. It is a variable plant, according as the characteristics of either one or the other of its parents predominate. This variety was recently figured and described in The Garden for the current year (vol. xxiii., p. 594). The late Dean Herbert seems to have been one of the first, if not actually the first, to raise hybrid Narcissi in our gardens; and in the Botanical Register for 1843, No. 38, several of his hybrids are illustrated, these having been raised in the Dean's garden at Spofforth. It is there stated by Mr. Herbert, that many Narcissi which had been distinguished as species, and even by Haworth made into fresh genera, are never known to bear seed, and are hence regarded as mules. Mr. Herbert verified his own doubts on this head by raising hybrid seedlings from the wild Yorkshire Daffodil (N. Pseudo narcissus), fertilized with pollen of N. poeticus, the result being a plant which could not be distinguished from N. incomparabilis. All interested in the history of cross-bred Narcissi should read the paper on "Hybridisation" contributed to the Journal of the Horticultural Society (vol. ii., p. 1, et seq.), wherein the worthy Dean gives some very interesting particulars. Among other instructive remarks is one relating to the sterility of N. odorus (Campernelle) in cultivation or in its wild state; and this fact led to experiments being made which eventually proved that the Linnæan N. odorus-the genus Philogyne in all its variations—is simply a cross-bred or hybrid product between the common Daffodil (N. pseudo-narcissus) and the Jonquil (N. jonquilla), such hybrids having been raised by Mr. Trevor Alcock, near Carmarthen, as well as in the Dean's own garden. Mr. Another celebrated hybridiser of the Narcissus was the late Mr. W. Backhouse, of St. John's, Walsingham, who amongst others was successful in raising N. lorifolius var. Emperor and N. bicolor var. Empress Daffodils, while among the present group his hybrid variety of N. incomparabilis var. Stella is perhaps the best known. Backhouse's seedlings are numerous, yet amongst hybrid Daffodils his Emperor and Empress even yet reign supreme. Those interested should read his own account of his crosses, as given in the Gardeners' Chronicle, June 10, 1865. A successful hybridist was Mr. Leeds, of Longford Bridge, near Manchester, and his seedlings have added greatly to our collections, many of them rivalling the choicest of all tropical Orchids in beauty, while at the same time they are perfectly hardy in our gardens. According to Mr. Barr, whose collection of Leeds' varieties is quite unique, "These new hybrid Daffodils are the result of crosses between the different varieties of the Trumpet Daffodil and the varieties of poeticus on the one hand, and the Trumpet Daffodil and montanus on the other. Unfortunately, the gentlemen who produced such wonderful results, and made so many grand additions to a family already rich and varied, have left on record so little data that we can but surmise how the work was accomplished." In several coloured illustrations in The Garden, the artist has given us a delicious glimpse of the graceful forms and beauty of many seedling varieties, all of which are most lovely, but a volume of coloured plates would not give us an adequate idea of their numerous new phases of grace and colour, and, after all, the best way of illustrating their utter loveliness is planting them in good soil and in suitable positions in the garden, so that every spring time may bring their flowers to us in all their graceful reality. Among the late Rev. Mr. Nelson's seedling Daffodils there are one or two so distinct as to deserve especial notice. Perhaps the finest of all is N. Gertrude Jekyll, a bold beauty of the finest type, having a solid wax-like trunk and stout sulphur-tinted perianth segments. This variety was first illustrated and described in The Garden, vol. xxiii., p. 31, and is certainly one of the very finest of its race. Another little beauty of Mr. Nelson's raising is N. nanus var. albus, which may best be described as a pale sulphur-coloured variety of the N. nanus type, which eventually shades off into a nearly pure white flower. It is as rare as it is beautiful, and, like its larger companion from the Aldborough garden before alluded to, it is not yet in the trade. While remembering the beauty of these Nelsonian seedlings, we must not forget that they were simply the result of careful seed selection, and not obtained as the result of cross-breeding. That being so, one cannot too forcibly beg of amateurs in whose gardens Narcissi may naturally bear seeds, that they will try their best to raise seedlings, seeing that the results in Mr. Nelson's, as well as in Mr. Backhouse's, case were so exceptionally fine and distinct. Planted out in good deep friable or sandy soil, these new seedling varieties are not only quite hardy, but they rapidly increase, and so form effective masses. If planted in a sheltered position so much the better, or the dry, harsh east winds shrivel their perianth segments, and so impair their beauty, unless, indeed, their blossoms are cut in the bud stage and brought indoors to expand. So treated, or when grown in pots in the greenhouse, the exquisite beauty of their blossoms is much longer preserved. As to their great beauty as cut flowers we need not speak, since most visitors to the London flower shows of recent years will have noted it for themselves. Double Daffodils and Marcigsi. DOU OUBLE DAFFODILS.—Fiat-leaved.-N. Pseudo-narcissus.-Seeing that the single forms of this species are so widely variable, it seems strange (as in the case with N. Tazetta also) that there are not more double varieties. Those known are: Double English Daffodil (wild in Devon and the Isle of Wight), N. Telamonius plenus (common double), N. grandiplenus (two or three forms), N. cernuus plenus (two forms), N. pumilus plenus (N. lobularis fl. pl.), N. Eystettensis (capax), figured by Parkinson and sometimes known as Queen Anne's Daffodil in gardens. DOUBLE NARCISSI.-Flat-leaved.-N. incomparabilis.—Several forms well known in gardens under popular names: Codlins and Cream, Butter and Eggs, Eggs and Bacon, Orange Phoenix, Sulphur Phoenix, being examples. N. poeticus.--The double form of N. poeticus is rather variable. In some the coronal segments are almost entirely suppressed. It is sometimes known as the Gardenia Narcissus. N. Tazetta.-The common double Roman Narcissus of the seed shops is a form of this species, and one or two others are figured in Parkinson's “Paradisus,” A.D. 1629. Rush-leaved.—N. jonquilla.——— The double-flowered Jonquil is commonly grown among forced spring-flowering bulbs in gardens. N. odorus. This species has yielded us one variety with double golden flowers, well known as Queen Anne's Jonquil. That some Daffodils have become double is an interesting fact, and it has been thought by many that even change of soil and locality seem favourable to the production of double flowers. In some parts of France, especially near Orleans, and also in Italy, near Naples, we are told, the different indigenous forms of N. Pseudo-narcissus are frequently found with double flowers. It would appear that double-flowered Daffodils are not all sports of accidental origin, as is often the case with Camellias and Azaleas, but may be raised from seed of single or of semi-double kinds, a fact well known to the quaint old gardeners of the last century, as will be seen from the following quotations from Hale's "Eden; or, a Compleat Body of Gardening "* (a valuable old folio, containing 60 coloured plates and much interesting information), published in 1757. At p. 329, Hale, curiously enough, observes: "The varieties of Narcissus raised by culture are much more numerous than the species we have from Nature." The following varieties of Narcissus are probably never met with in a double state, or, if so, very rarely, viz. : Juncifolius, Bulbocodium, pachybolbus, elegans, serotinus, Broussoneti, intermedius, Macleayi, biflorus, viridiflorus, calathinus, triandrus, dubius, gracilis, and canariensis. The following frequently assume a double-flowered condition, viz. : N. pseudo-narcissus, incomparabilis, odorus, jonquilla, Tazetta, and poeticus. Among the double forms of these may also often be found great variety, even among those of the same species. FLAT-LEAVED DOUBLE DAFFODILS.-N. Pseudo-narcissus. Of this variable plant we have four or five showy double forms, one of the most rare and interesting of which is the true double-flowered form of our common English Daffodil. This variety was well known to Parkinson, who figured and described it (1629) as Pseudo-narcissus anglicus fl.-pl., or Gerard's double Daffodil. It has often been confounded with the * Hale's "Eden" is one of the many works of the notorious Sir John Hill. |