This past week contained more Daffodil fun. Tiny bubbles bloomed, as did Arkle, and one of my pinks Katie Heath. Unfortunately Arkle was too tall and big so they fell over as soon as it opened. So, I cut most of them and enjoy them inside now. Can some one tell me why a daffodil grows so that it can't support itself? Should I modify something for next year?
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| Arkle |
I went for my first time this year to Filoli. I brought a couple of friends to experience the magical place. They loved it - especially because we toured the gardens with the sound track to Pride and Prejudice playing!
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| Me with Annie and Mindy at Filoli's Daffodil Daydream |
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| Smelling the Hyacinths |
The Northern Califonia Daffodil Society was also at Filoli over the weekend. I mentioned the event in an earlier post. I shook hands with the NCD president Bob Spotts and dropped my Dad's name so Bob could know who I was. We chatted a little bit before he gave his talk on the history of Daffodils. I had never really thought much about daffodils in the wild before. It turns out Daffodils are only native to areas around the Mediterranean! I found that fact really interesting. Also funny is how they don't required any special care at all- they are just like our orange California Poppy's! Crazy. Well here are some more pictures.
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| Tiny Bubbles |
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| Katie Heath |
There is another reson that first year blooms are larger and that is that the growers remove the flowers the season before they are going to sale the bulbs. This is again to provide the largest bulb as possible. Doing this causes nothing to go into producing the flower. Every thing goes into producing the bulb to sale. This is done by the larger growers on most of the imported bulbs, including tulips and daffodils. I do not believe that the growers in Oregon are doing this. Many times the second year bloom are much more elegant and balanced.
ReplyDeleteFinal note, (<: some of the daffodils grow better in California then most of the rest of the world. Those are the flowers in Divisions 7, jonqulias, and 8, tazettas. Most of these are fragrant.