Tazetta Daffodils
30 Cultivars Listed
The least cold-loving of all daffodils, Tazettas are the most floriferous and the tallest of the genus , 3 to 20 florets per scape with a sweet, complex, layered perfume. Tazetta comes from the Italian describing the florets, ‘Tazze e piattini’ , yes – cups and saucers. The species Tazetta, which has six subspecies, occur at coastal altitudes up to 500 meters. Generally Tazettas are happiest in zone 6a through Southern 8a, Western 10, depending on the cultivar and environment. In warmer climates they bloom from December through April. The Poetaz group being more hardy, overwinters into zone 5. In Spanish N.tazetta subsp. tazetta has the common name narciso-de-inverno or Winter Narcissus.
Tazettas were the first daffodils to be grown in great numbers, primarily by the Dutch and British in the 19th century, for the cut flower market, for interior decoration, and for use in nosegays as a balm against the foul smell of the modern horse-drawn metropolis. But overharvesting of wild stocks along with a series of very cold winters and World War 1 disrupted the floriculture and the market at the beginning of the 20th century. Subsequent crosses of Tazettas with Poeticus led to a great number of hardier and larger cultivars known as Poetaz. In the late 19th Century and Early 20th century there was a robust market in the Eastern US for cut Tazettas. Needing no vernalization or chilling, species Paperwhites were grown in great numbers throughout the southern States, as far south as Cape Canaveral for distribution by rail to cities up the east coast.
Paperwhites has become a generic term for any tazetta that has a white perianth and a white corona. The species N.papyraceus , occurring at coastal altitudes below 500 meters, it certainly the parent of the modern paperwhites as we know them.
While tazettas have been interbred with nearly all other daffodil types, they differ in the number of chromosomes , n = 10 and 11 in contrast -to n = 7 chromosomes of the other narcissus species. Tazettas also have important commercial value in perfumery along with jonquils and poeticus.
8 W-O
Bringing more rock and roll glamour to the modern New Zealand garden party, Abraxis is a scented, broad petaled, and wavy tazetta hybrid dressed in white and orange. Early to arrive to the fete. From Grand Monarch.
8 Y-Y
Vivid two toned yellow offspring of Avalanche. You will need both hands and some toes to count the number of blooms on each scape. An ideal example of what makes Tazettas such great flowers in the garden and in the vase. Needs southern exposure and winter protection in Zone 6. A creation of the late Bill 'the Bulb Baron' Welch.
8 W-Y
Canaliculatus - An important Tazetta that is grown commercially in large numbers. A historic, an ADS Classic and an ADS miniature. On commercial acreage lists in Holland it is categorized as a species. Pollen and Pod fertile. We maintain a small stock that is hand harvested and graded apart from the large commercial growers. Floriferous, bright and fragrant. Mentioned as an "erratic and fussy bloomer"1 in Southern zones 8 and above.
1. Daffodils in American Gardens 1733-1940, Sara L. van Beck, 101
8 Y-O
Very floriferous and very tall yellow and orange Tazetta. A perfect thing, likely a Poetaz , from Bill Pannill. Fantastic imposing plant, olé.
8 Y-YYR
Towering over the tazetta bed every year is Chinita, an original poetaz with a very broad flowers and unusual clear primrose color. Pick it early to protect the cup from sunburn, the petals from blanching. Downright thrilling in the vase. Singular.
8 Y-O
When you have Dinner at Eight. you will be served a deeply colored van der Veek tazetta, tall, late and floriferous up to 5 florets per scape. Lots of surface area to the bloomlets : you won't leave hungry.
8 W-O
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.
4 W-Y
Erlicheer is an older tazetta sport with bodacious double, strongly scented blooms. Excellent for forcing and for cut flowers. Erlicheer may struggle in Zone 6 even with some winter protection. Grows freely in the South. A singular daffodil. Classified as a double but we all know that it really behaves as a tazetta. Makes an unusually large bulb.
8 W-P
Unusual, unmistakeable and unforgettable Fencourt Jewel is a unique 21st century pink cupped tazetta. Floriferous : beauty and bounty from New Zealand. A truly grand flower. For us in zone 6b it is wonderfully persistent year over year. Worth every penny.
8 W-Y
No mean girls at this gathering, this early blooming tazetta from Bill Welch is friendly and free flowering, up to 14 blooms per scape. Girl's Night is another superior garden tazetta from the bulb barron, with a cup that is bright but not brassy.
8 W-O
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".
8 W-Y
Grand Monarque is an old and important Tazetta, once grown in great numbers for the cut flower market, both in the US and the Netherlands. It has produced some remarkable seedlings establishing its reputation as a super parent. Plainly colored, Floriferous and fragrant. From the species N. tazetta subsp. lacticolor.
8 W-Y
A highly floriferous cross from avalanche, by Bill Welch. Large and vigorous grower with large flowers and lots of them; we average 17 per scape. Hilary is very fragrant, an improved cultivar all around.
8 W-Y
A substantial Australian Tazetta from the golden age of tazetta breeding. A cross of Grand Monarque and pseudo-narcissi, Killara is an ADS Historic.
8 G-G
Inheriting floriferousness from her mother and green color from her father Lima's Green Goddess is a fall blooming viridiflorus cross. These daffodils like to be high and dry in summer dormancy and will awake around October first. They go dormant in the late spring, and are somewhat cold hardy, but there are limits.
To read more about the genesis in modern narcissus viridiflorus breeding go HERE.
8 W-Y
L'innocence is a compact and floriferous tazetta, likely a poetaz, from a time when there was a lot of breeding going on to make tazettas more hardy. Richly colored, its compact size makes if excellent for pot culture or in the rockery where you don't want overly tall tazetta foliage crashing down on the little neighbors. An ADS historic.
8 W-WPP
We are pleased to list this miniature white pink cupped tazetta by Harold Koopowitz. Little Dianne is unique and feminine, full of color, fine form, detail and fragrance. Makes you loath to leave the ranch in springtime. Limited stock
8 W-O
A bright and early Tazetta from Bill Welch, Marisol is distinguished by its deeply lobed and frilled orange cups. Cute and detailed, smells good like a Tazetta should. A cross of Matador and Gloriosus this, even for a Welch hybrid, is a demonstrably superior cultivar.Adaptable but probably only reaches its full potential in zones 7 and 8, and warmer in the West.
8 Y-O
Martinette is a Tazetta crossed with a species jonquil by Harry Tuggle. It is a vigorous grower and fragrant. Aside from Geranium it is the tazetta that I see most often on the commercial cut flower market.
8 W-Y
Bill Welch's take on daffodil Avalanche. There is an easily recognized perfection to Miss Meliss blooms, she is genuinely tall, strong, floriferous, and fragrant. A truly great cultivar.
8 Y-R
A Grant Mitsch bred Tazetta of great power and distinction. Bountifully floriferous, with sharp mucrons and rich colors. One of the Novelty Bird Series: Motmot is a tropical bird of the family Momotidae. Jonquil cross.
8 W-W
An abundance of broad, substantial, wavy and white flowers on a scape bring a spirit of opulence to the bed, bench, and bunch. Nickelodeon is a modern poetaz, from Grand Monarque, and from New Zealand too. A remarkable flower that we recommend without a moment's hesitation.
8 Y-Y
Vigorous and consistent, Pacific Coast is a modern tazetta that stands out from the rest. Easy and bright with lots of perfectly formed flowers. A sport of Minnow, Pacific Coast is tall but not rangy, better organized and more substantial. ADS Miniature.
8 W-Y
A floriferous daffodil small in size, soft in color, richly baroque in form; you get a lot for your money in Peseta. A newer and unusual tazetta sired by N.dubius.
8 W-W
A selection of White Pearl by Harold Koopowitz. Very floriferous with up to 20 florets per scape. Polly's Pearl is among a group of tazettas from White Pearl. Polly's Pearl is listed in Daffodils in Florida as satisfactory in USDA zone 8, while White Pearl is not. Polly is a lady of substance and fertile both ways.
8 W-W
Another remarkable tazetta from Bill Welch, the well-named Sparkling Beauty is a pointillistic cascade of small-cupped blooms on a high-rise scape. This wonderful, all white cultivar is just registered.
8 W-Y
As Daffodil cultivars go , Tazetta Compressus is one of the oldest, emerging from the Netherlands long ago. Thirteen blooms on a scape. A great Southern daffodil. ADS Historic.
13 W-W
N. pachybolbus, section Tazettae
One of the few species that also makes a first rate garden daffodil. Perfection in a small package. Everything you could want in a companion: petite, perfume quality scent, brilliant white color, with a bright serene countenance. Yes, the letters o and u in the name were reversed once upon a time and we are stuck with the misspelling.
