Hi David,
Re. – N. cyclamineus: Now you are speaking about a Narcissus species that I truly adore. It does very well here in Oregon and has naturalized in some gardens in the Pacific northwest. I have not noticed three distinct seasons for the progeny but more of a continuum. I’ve raised many, many hundreds of seed and am maintaining five different discreet “strains” that seem quite distinct. I refer to them here using working descriptors based on their form as in: “waisted”, bell, long tubular, etc. Intercrossing selected bulbs from these specific form groupings has given some very pleasant N. cyclamineus seedlings.
Re. – ‘Gambas’ – Thanks for the tip on ‘Gambas’ and width. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I raised several batches of seed using it most often as a pollen parent with frozen pollen on the earliest things although I did use it as a seed parent some. Here, for me, ‘Gambas’ blooms at season 3-4 which is much later than the early Miniature trumpets. Also, and strictly as an acknowledged personal preference, I find the trumpet a touch chunky and consider it somewhat over cupped (out of my “ideal” proportions) to suit my own peculiar personal taste in flowers. I seem to be drawn to narrow base, slightly flaring trumpets. Again, this a personal preference of mine and probably a fatal flaw for a hybridizer. That is really great and exciting that you are raising nice things from it. Not at all a surprise as ‘Gambas’ is truly a lovely thing.
The best overall early yellow Miniature trumpets as parents here have been: ‘Tanagra’, ‘WeeBee’, ‘Xana’, ‘Petit Buerre’, ‘Little Gem’, & ‘Small Talk’
Re. Width and Substance in Miniatures – The width seems to be far more attainable but I do find poor substance in the F2 generation (and beyond) of Miniature progeny an ongoing issue. I often wonder if both width and substance might be related to missing “a touch of N. poeticus” in the genetic background of Miniatures. That issue doesn’t exist with Standard Daffodils. As you know, during the early development of both trumpets and large cups, N. poeticus was used to both widen and smooth.
Steve
PS – Below are some nursery flats from 2011 with 4″ pots of N. cyclamineus potted up for last years spring plant sales.
Steve and David,
Although it is with great envy, I enjoy reading your postings on
miniatures breedling and on growing N. cyclamineus. Were there only a
strain of this species that tolerates Oakley climate!
I confess that I’m not a fan of miniature trumpets, at least of those
that have been bred and increase for the commercial trade. They are
just too narrow in perianth segments to be pleasing to me. What are
you breeding with them to gain overlap of segments, while at the same
time keeping miniature size?
Bob
At 06:40 AM 2/5/2012, Stephen Vinisky wrote: