Plant of the week : Wild daffodil or Lent Lilly.
Were into Daffodil season with our gardens full of different cultivars ready to flower in the coming weeks.
The RHS registry names 26000 unique cultivars of Narcissus, most developed since the 19th century. These were all developed from Wild Daffodils, mostly native to meadows and woods around the Western Mediterranean several of which are now endangered.
Narcissus can be divided into 3 floral patters ; “Daffodil” / “Paperwhite” / “Triandrus”
Narcissus pseudonarcissus is a true wild Daffodil and a English historic plant……so why not give it a go and plant some of these bulbs this autumn.
- Native to English woodland since Roman times, it suffered rapid decline in the 19th century.
- Still abundant in some areas such as Gloucestershire around Newent & Dymock, its is now considered rare in most of England.
- Its believed these are the Daffodils referred to by Shakespeare & Wordsworth …”I wandered lonely as a cloud…….A host of golden Daffodils: beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze”
- Bulbous perennial, it produces flower spikes up to 35cm tall in early spring.
- A single dark yellow flower trumpet (corona) 60mm long, surrounded by 3 sepels & 3 petals (perianth) in a lighter yellow.
- Plant bulbs in partial shade at twice their depth in autumn. Prefers moderately fertile well drained soil that is moist during growing season…think damp woodland conditions.
- Can be shy for the first season after planting……mine are.
The Welsh or Tenby Daffodil is a subspecies….Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp.obvallaris
Did you Know : Seed produced by Daffodils takes up to 7 years to produces a flowering plant.