Historics

Tall, old, historic Narcissus with a deeply colored cup. ADS Historic. Breeding potential.

Beefy and Bright April Queen is an older variety that is enjoying a newly found cult of admirers. Blooms out of the leaves, blooms more into May for us in 6a.

April Tears is an Alec Gray cross of species N.jonquilla and N.triandrus. Seed parent to the terrific Tripartite. Similar to Hawera.

An antique double. A truly joyous bloomer that deserves a place in any border or cottage garden. Daughter of Telamonious Plenus and Ornatus.

Here is one of the founding members of the Iron Ladies and Marathon Men Daffodil Club. A very old Backhouse seedling, Conspicuous , aka Barri Conspicuus, has broad petals for an antique, a long 90 degree neck, and a yellow petal color that transmogrifies to creamy white. The cup is a pleasing yet intense yellow orange with just the right amount of Victorian frilly bling. A truly great landscape flower that has been dug and replanted for 150 years, and with good reason. ADS Historic.

Bernardino is a white and orange-apricot large cup dating to the beginning of the 20th century. Pollen and seed fertile, Bernardino served widely as a seed parent a hundred years ago. Bernie is a good grower, joyous in the mixed border and quite visible in the landscape as a point of attention.

Bodilly is pollen and seed fertile and has been around so long that he has great-grandchildren. A distinct and deep yellow cup, set on a white rounded star. Cornish Roots. A sterling daffodil for mixed border or mixed in the landscape. We are growing it in a large cup landscape mix and as a cut flower. Strong grower, makes a large bulb.

An Englehardt cultivar, similar to Conspicuus , but Brilliancy keeps his yellow perianth color, loud cup, and is really tall. Another old timer that brings real, perennial, spring glory to the bed and landscape. Unlike us, the petals get slender and slim with age. Small availability,

This long celebrated double is new to our list. She is a magnificent creature and as old as the hills, as fresh as the dawn. Good for all uses and certainly as a conversation piece. I seldom see Butter and Eggs on the bench, but in a historical group certainly one to have. Fabulous and luxurious North, South, East, and West.

Anyone referring to a flower named 'Buttercup' elicits all kinds of confusion. Are they referencing a Ranunculus, using a generic term for jonquils that bloom freely in the South, increasingly as an alias for Tête-à-Tête? One of the several daffodils registered under that name? We offer the historic Rev. Engleheart jonquilla 'Buttercup', a strong grower with large flowers more reminiscent of a historic small cup. Rare. Brings intense happiness to the gardener. Smells good.

Frilled and smooth and white all over, Cantatrice was the standard bearer for white trumpets in the mid 20th Century. Famously good on the bench, in the border and in the pot. From Beersheba. ADS Historic.

Cyclataz is the lovechild of a species CYCLAmineus and the TAZetta Grande Soleil d'Or . Vigorous, floriferous, wild in form, rich in color. Cyclataz does well in pot culture. ADS Historic. ADS Miniature. She is also the parent of three notable offsprin

There are so many large and bright large cups from the early 20th century (pre-quarantine days) that shine in the border and the landscape : Bernardino, Bodilly, Carbineer, Croesus, Dunkeld, Frank Miles,Red Devon, Sempre-Avanti. They all bring a full-sized simply joy to the garden. Daffodil Damson is maybe more colorful than most and hard to overlook. A tall and handsome marathoner. Historic. Pollen and seed fertile. Love Damson.

A very old white on white large cup, the Duchess of Westminster is a bit of a plain Jane by modern standards, but retains all of her 19th century to-the-manor-born-country-girl charm. The old gal opens white yellow but matures to swan white. A rare Billy Backhouse cultivar.

Dunkeld is a very old daffodil variety that is strong and solid in the border and in the landscape planting. Straightforward yellow and orange four inch flowers. A vigorous grower that makes a very large bulb. Pollen and seed fertile, Dunkeld has sired many red cups.

A historic poetaz, Early Spendour has ample wide petals and a brilliant over all coloration that sings in the sunlight. Easy to photograph, easy to fall in love with. ADS historic.

An antique all over mellow yellow small cup from the Rev Engleheart. This is a rare daffodil, so rare that it is rumored not to exist. But here we are one hundred years on with no end in sight. Petals get slim, acute, and shouldered with age. Swellegant ( thanks Cole Porter).

Do you have a desert island daffodil ? (dit vertaalt zich niet in het Nederlands). Feu de Joie is ours, we would happily be banished to a desert island or even asteroid B-612 for that matter if we could take only this flower. We are swooning and proud that this flower finally made our list. Returns and rewards annually in the garden. Every bloom better than the next. Antique white / orange double. ADS Historic. Very limited stock.

Le feu de joie, c'est un beau coup de fusil.

Watching a planting of Firebrand in bloom blow in the breeze on a sunny spring day is an encounter that will never let slip from memory. A poster child for the greatness of historic, small-cupped daffodils – mostly bred by tweed wearing clerics and the landed gentry. A handsome devil, much like Lucifer . Increases with a little care.

Frank Miles has been bringing his sunny disposition to the landscape for 150 years. A two-toned gold on gold large cup that is stunning in the border. If you can have only one antique in your garden, Frank will be a long lasting and loyal friend. Frank was a friend of Oscar Wilde and not homely at all. Historic. Rare.

Gloriosus is a floriferous and beautiful very old tazetta with strong orange colored cups and a classic strong, sweet, fragrance. Pollen and seed fertile Glorious is also self fertile and “seeds like crazy”. A thing of joy and glory forced in a pot or as a cut flower. Needs a winter blanket in northern zones. Not to be confused with the tazetta cultivar “Glorious”.

The old town of Lisse in South Holland is in a traditional bulb growing region. But in the second half of the 20th century many growers moved to North Holland where there is more clay soil, more wind, and less pressure from land development. Glory of Lisse is a historic Poeticus derived from the species radiiflorus that shows great poise and fortitude. Highly fertile.

A lovely, older Robert Backhouse cultivar. Glowing Phoenix is wild and sparse double, colorful and free. Rare. Very early. ADS Historic.

A large flowered and deep cylindrical cupped jonquil that has been going strong for a century. Fragrant and lanky, well-loved in the South. Long lived and long lasting. ADS Historic.

Grand Monarque is an old and important Tazetta, once grown in great numbers for the cut flower market. Recently it has produced some remarkable seedlings. Plainly colored, Floriferous and fragrant. From the species N. tazetta subsp. lacticolor

Plain when compared to modern cultivars, but distinguished and dignified in its simple form. More than one customer relayed a similar story, it goes something like this. “When I was young I visited a neighbor with daffodil bed that included Helios, I fell in love at first sight and never forgot it. I am so happy that it is still available, having given up on ever finding it.”

It also turns out Helios is sought after by those in pharmaceutical research, as it is remarkably high in the alkaloid narciclasine. The compound lycorine, also present in daffodils, is what makes them poisonous, unpalatable and thus “deer proof”.

Helios is classified as a standard, but is easily at the upper height limits – it sails over the spring bed.

An old poet who, even with the demise of the interest in Latin, continues to be relevant. Horace is tall and like Kansas is as flat as a pancake. As he ages he progresses from a rounded flower to a spellbing rounded star. An offspring of Ornatus.

Many of the historic old blooms that we love are star-flowered small cups. But watch out, the free formed, star shaped, old doubles will steal your heart. Insulinde is ivory and tangerine and libertine all over. Hard to to pick a favorite from others in this style : Argent, Feu de Joie. Long lived, long lasting, held aloft on robust scapes. A Backhouse cultivar.