Daffnet Digest, Vol 312, Issue 83

Hello all Flowering time of daffodil varieties has long been a matter of great interest to me. It has very gratifying financial implications for my commercial cut flower business not to mention placing the finest exhibition blooms on the show bench at the right time! Every year I note flowering dates in my planting record notebooks so that I can observe any varieties’ flowering time (when the first bloom opens) over many flowering seasons. Having done this for more decades than I care to admit I have come to understand much of those factors that influence the time at which any particular variety may begin to bloom.
In regard to Cape Point my notebooks reveal these dates for the first bloom 28, 30, 18 of September and this year 13 October. My observation is this……. A colder than normal June July and August gives the later flowering varieties a real wake up call and they respond with vigour and enthusiasm to the longer and warmer days of spring. A mild winter seems to convince them to “snooze” for a while and “dawdle” their way to the breakfast table before getting into their finery for a decent day’s work at the dance studio! Either way I am happy to see them early or late. There is a lot more that could be said about variation in flowering time but my seed pods need harvesting the lawn needs another haircut and my wife has this list……. gotta go Graham P. r—–al Message—–

2 comments for “Daffnet Digest, Vol 312, Issue 83

  1. Hello Graham, Interesting flowering dates for ‘Cape Point’. If we take an exact 6 months difference in flowering season between New Zealand and Northern Ireland then your first three dates are just about what I would expect. Mid-season (seldom quite the same) is usually about 3-4th week of April, that’s why I must pot bulbs to get flowers in time for Lohdon Show which is usually a week or two earlier. However, I imagine your Mid season is a little earlier in Sept? In Northern Ireland , Ballymena and Omagh are the two latesrt areas being at least a week – 10days later than other areas where shows are held. Thanks for your input to this debate. Trust all is well with both you and Bronwyn. I was glad to see ‘Champeen’ picking up prizes again this season – with that nice yellow halo it might prove to be a ‘style-breaker’! Some will shudder with horror at the thought!!! Best regards Brian D

  2. Hello All.
    I am rather bemused as to where the discussion of Cape Point has taken us. My original intention in putting up a photo of Cape Point on Daffnet was to demonstrate that an outstanding flower had appeared long after our daff showing season had finished. I was taken aback with Brian’s response that the bloom would have come from diseased (!!) or non-acclimatised bulbs. I am even more bemused that Brian’s claim of “mid-season” does not equate with its registration which states “late”. And the latter is consonant with its flowering time with me (although perhaps “very late” is more appropriate) and certainly is in line with its appearance on the show bench here. I can only recall it winning major prizes on two occasions – at our South Island National (on the last Saturday in September) as previously noted and at our late show in Hamilton in October when it was Best Bloom shown by Andrew Jenkins. As one of the best pinks going the rounds had it been “mid-season” here I would have expected it to have taken many more awards. Graham’s dates of 28, 30 of September places it in the late category here and 13 October is ” very, very late”.
    My last word on this is that many fine UK varieties flower after our show season is finished unless we grow them in containers and use glass houses (even in our much more benign climate). And I promise not to post on Daffnet photos of late flowering varieties whatever their origin lest I offend their raisers!
    Cheers,
    Peter
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