New Baby-Color Code Confusion

I’m fairly new to daffodils, and often just don’t ‘see it’ when it comes to color codes.

I acquired New Baby from ??? and haven’t seen it bloom yet, but was making up some new
Daff labels, checking the info against Daffseek.  Well, the code for Baby Moon is 7w-y, but in
 looking at the pics at Daffseek, it  certainly doesn’t look (to me anyway) like a 7w-y.  I’m thinking that when
I finally get to see it bloom, and if it looks like 7y-y,  I’ll likely just mark  it to just dig and pitch or
just pass along to someone who likes daffodils, but who doesn’t care if they have a name or not.

As the blooms mature, do they look ” greenish white, with a patch of yellow at margin in lower
 half (per Daffseek)?  If so, maybe I should put some sort of an ‘alert’ on the tag with additional color info.

Tia.

Sue
Southern Indiana…USA


3 comments for “New Baby-Color Code Confusion

  1. Sue, 'Baby Moon' is a 7 Y-Y.  'New Baby' is a 7 W-Y.  They are different cultivars, so maybe you were just looking at the wrong flower on Daffseek and that could be confusing.

    But, a cultivar's bloom may not always match its color code.  Many daffs color can vary, some from year to year, some from location to location (I may not always get the deep colors here in Tennessee that they do in Oregon or Washington state), or vary from the bloom color when it just opens to how it matures.  Some flowers develop their registered color code (some pinks, or ones that fade out to white) as they mature.  To double-check the color code (and division!) is helpful to verify we grow what we think we grow, but don't throw anything out too quickly.  Hopefully your 7 Y-Y is 'Baby Moon' and you can keep it!

    Becky
    that daffy girl near Nashville

  2. Hi Becky,

    I also have Baby Moon, and it is so late that it too just has buds and has not bloomed yet this year.  I’ve had it quite a while, but just didn’t have it tagged…my bad….and I’m trying to get everything tagged and all the NO ID ones dug out (they are cluttering a bed that is too full) and disposed of properly, ie shared with non collectors or planted in a area for picking for bouquets.

    I acquired New-Baby from a cyber gardening friend in VA, and I’m thinking she had just acquired it from Brent and Becky, and we traded some bulbs.
    Anyway, I’ll just note on tag (and spreadsheet) that it ‘opens’ as a Y-Y and that should help end my confusion, thus won’t pitch it.

    I see the perianth segments for New-Baby are quite mucronate, whereas   Baby Moon are rounded.

    Thanks for your reply. 

    Sue
    Southern Indiana


    Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:03:04 -0500

  3. As Becky said, the color varies depending on the location, weather earlier in the spring, weather since the bloom opened, and age and maybe other stuff.  So there really can’t be a set of consistent color definitions.  Y can mean palest straw through deep gold on to buffy apricot.  W is a little more restrained, but can range from really white on up through beige into straw into pale yellow, definitely overlapping the Y range.  P/O/R – hah.
    Watching booms change as they mature is fascinating.  I’m just figuring out that the differences year to year can also be interesting – this year Lemon Lyric (YYW-Y) and Lemon Sails (Y-Y) are both definite YYW-O.  Couldn’t figure out what they were at first, had to look twice at the tags.
    Did I have a point?  umm, maybe just that your flower might be new baby after all – wait and see what it looks likes as it matures.  And don’t put absolute faith in the color code – it’s at best a snapshoot of a movie.  Do you know anybody in your area who grows new baby or baby moon?  Comparing your bloom with others helps more than photos, though even that can be confusing.
    I’m waiting for an affordable instantaneous handheld DNA analyzer with a reliable databank of registered daffs.
    Kathleen
    —-

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