I just had to put my two cents in regarding refrigeration of daffs. First, Clay Higgins remark about his ex-wife was too funny to ignore, LOL ! Secondly, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then the photos sent by Char Roush offer powerful evidence in support of refrigeration. Finally, Donna Dietsh and Brian Duncan both made excellent points supporting the practice, mother nature is fickle and being able to show your daffs at their optimum beauty is human nature. It is a contest after all. Since time immemorial, man has probably “brushed up” his broke down mule before putting the old gal up for sale and I think used car salesman still do something similar today!~~Ha!
Ultimately, isn’t one of the goals of exhibition to highlight the beauty of daffodils to the public and offer them the opportunity to see the amazing variety of cultivars available today? Showing them at their best without “adding” anything seems a great way to accomplish that goal.
Personally, I have never had the good fortune to grow any that I thought were remotely nice enough for show. Once, however, I did try to clean the petals of one soiled by heavy rains and splash up. It cleaned up pretty nice, so then I tried to unfurled the petals a bit. By the time I finished with that little beauty, it looked as if it had been accidentally dropped after picking and left for dead several days in a blazing sun…, then rediscovered and thrown into a busy highway! So….I say hoorah to those individuals who have garnered the secret skills, tips, and tricks to make their flowers show in all their glory!!! It gives the rest of us amateurs something to aspire to!
Waymon Edmonds