Each American Daffodil Society national show is allowed to have one special collection; otherwise, the collection classes are the same at every ADS national show. Since next year’s convention is also a World Daffodil Convention, I (since I’m the show chairman) am going to make it an international or world class collection. Those of you in the northern hemisphere who haven’t placed your bulb orders yet and whose season peaks in early April should think about buying bulbs that enable you to enter this class.
The class will be for a collection of one stem each of five different standard cultivars with the cultivars bred in five different countries. (It’s a World Daffodil Convention, so why not feature cultivars from all over the world?) To make entering a little bit easier, we’ll count England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland as separate countries. Those countries plus Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, United States, etc. should make it feasible for exhibitors to span five different countries. Now is the time to consider what cultivars you already grow and what cultivars you should buy this summer in order to compete in this class. Since there is no division requirement, you may be closer to having an entry than you realize. For example, if you have oldies like ‘Highfield Beauty’ 8Y-YYO (Australia), ‘Trena’ 6W-Y (New Zealand), and ‘Golden Aura’ 2Y-Y (Republic of Ireland), you’re three-fifths of the way there. Stems must be labeled with the cultivar name, the division, and the hybridizer’s name, just like the other national collections in the show. Putting the country on the label is very desirable but not required.
As the show chairman, I will offer a nominal (that means very low value) prize for the winning entry.
What fun, Kirby! I predict that this will be a VERY large class!