Tazetta Daffodils
22 Cultivars Listed
The least cold-loving of all daffodils, Tazettas are the most floriferous 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.
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. 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.
Generally Tazettas are happiest in zone 6a through Southern 8a, Western 10, depending on the cultivar and environment. In warmer climates they will bloom from December through April. The Poetaz group being more hardy, overwintering into zone 5.
Paperwhites is a generic term for any tazetta that has a white perianth and a white corona.
