Daffodil Friends,
The first daffodil show of the season was a great success! It was in the show building at the lovely Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore, California. Jacquie Williams-Courtright, the Nursery owner, made a special walk to the show room as we were taking the show down to tell us the effusive comments about the show she and her staff had received from customers.
The most significant feature of the Show was the incredible display of miniature daffodils from Harold Koopowitz and Marilynn Howe. Without a doubt, this will be the best display of Miniatures in any daffodil show – anywhere – this year. All these tiny daffodils were created – hybridized – and grown from seeds by this duo. There was such a feast of little blooms that it was difficult for the viewer to appreciate what splendor was contained there. It did not dawn on me what unique, beautiful little flowers were in this array of almost two-hundred blooms until I took the time to examine them closely!
I drew up a chair and looked at each little bloom. There was an exquisite little white trumpet daffodil with an orange rim! Nothing like this exists elsewhere – even in full-size daffodils! There was a row of six miniature split-cupped daffodils – each quite different but charming. There was an orange-cupped cyclamineus miniature with a cup unlike any I had ever seen: narrow at the base, expanding gently before closing nearly to the original width. My description is poor – but the bloom was graceful and unlike bloom I had ever seen! Striking blooms in almost every division!
The Judges had a difficult task in choosing Best Miniature from among these. So many were worthy of the honor. The choice made was a lovely little white-and-pink bloom with several florets. Somehow the little rimmed trumpet escaped their view.
Congratulations on their achievement to Harold and Marilynn – and our thanks for bringing these little flowers from Southern California for us to see.
The best Standard-size flowers in the Show also came from Southern California. Steve Hampson won Best-in-Show and Reserve Champion (runner-up) as well. His flowers stood out throughout the show for their exceptional size and high quality.
My own “green” seedlings gathered favorable comments. They have a way to go to compete with top-quality show flowers, but they do add interest to the public viewing the show.
We were honored to have as Judges three daffodil persons from across the nation: Janet Hickman from Virginia, Michael Berrigan from Minnesota, and John Beck from Illinois.
These comments are not to be considered a show report. Show Chairman Kirby Fong will post a list of award winners and photos of winning blooms.
Join us at the next NCDS Show on March 17-18, at Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys, California.
Bob Spotts
I love your enthusiasm, Bob. It sounds like the show was an extraordinary sight.
When you said, “I pulled up a chair to look at them,” it reminded me of the fantastic solution to the issue of trying to view tiny flowers that we saw at the Chicago convention.
A peek under the skirts revealed equal lengths of PVC pipe, which is fairly cheap, propping up the four legs of each table that were inserted in the pipe sections.
This “leg extensions” raised the tables to a very advantageous height and made judging and admiring the little flowers a breeze.
I convinced our pastor this would be the ideal “solution” for us and so Spencer and I set up a couple of these “lifted” tables for “coffee, juice and muffins” after mass one Sunday and expected a good response, but were surprised at the reaction.
We expected people would be happy that food was out of reach of little hands, who have been known to take a bite and put back…….. Sigh,……, but the ladies in charge would have nothing to do with this.
Ya can’t win em all, is all I can say.
Nonetheless, I still think the idea holds great promise for getting mini blooms to eye level.
Chriss
Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!
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Bob –
I’m sure this was a thrill to view.
Looking forward to the photos!
As to your description of the orange-cupped cyclamineus….
are you describing something similar to a tiny, round fishbowl sitting on a perianth?
Linda