lent lily or King Alfred

Hi,
Several times a year someone will tell me what I think are lent lilys are King Alfred. All I know for sure is they have been growing in the same place for over 100 years. I've looked in daffnet and dozens of other places and am still not sure.
Can someone advise.
Thanks Averett

2 comments for “lent lily or King Alfred

  1. Pseudonarcissus are also called Lent Lilies and there are a LOT of various forms of them. Many of the various pseudonarcissus forms are very short growing or at least a LOT shorter height of blooms than on the true King Alfred. Also pseudonarcissus are often a distinct bi-color bloom where as the King Alfred is a far darker golden yellow with less difference in the color of the cup and the petals.
     
     
    The link above will take you to a short write up and you can then search daffseek for photos of both of these. NOTICE how that picture has the bloom “nodding” down towards the ground for the Lent Lily and the seldom hold the bloom more than a couple of inches over the tops of shorter leaves.
     
    King Alfred blooms will stand up strong and tall above the tops of the leaves with the trumpets facing up above a 90* plane. While pseudonarcissus blooms nod down ward on short, weak stems. The pseudonarcissus or “Lent Lily” often bloom early season during the week of “Lent” thus just one of their many common names.
     
    Pseudonarcissus are not very good at multiplying from bulb division. They rely on insects, moths and bumble bees, for pollination and they are prolific producers of seeds.
     
    IF you are sure that these bulbs have been blooming, multiplying and or just surviving in the same location for over 100 years then you most certainly have “Lent Lilies” as King Alfreds are fairly timid about setting seed and are not all that fast at multiplying.
     
    The true King Alfred was introduced in 1898 or so and it was not all that common or affordable to the general public in garden catalogs until after the date you are giving for your bulbs. Can we have a general location of where you live? I live in the northeast corner of Texas, cold zone around 8b and LOTS of different selections of “Lent Lilies” were brought into this part of Texas beginning in the 1830’s from European settlers. After the Civil War Texas was flooded with new immigrants from Europe and Americans fleeing the devastation of the war from states further east.
     
    But the Spanish were up in this part of Texas searching for gold in the mid to late 1500’s. Locations of lost towns, old army forts, old cemeteries and forgotten pioneer homes and family burial plots are often located when archeologists find these various species of daffodils still surviving at remote locations.
     
    In the Western and Central USA entire towns or communities were dismantled and moved up to 40 miles when a railroad was built through a vast area, by-passing small communities. Very often the only remnants of these historic locations are scattered daffodils blooming in spring time with broken bits of pottery and rusty bits of iron or nails left behind in the ground. Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas

Comments are closed.