Post 6 in a series of 7.
We didn’t go to any daffodil shows in the Christchurch area, but we did visit many daffodil growers. First stop was Otahuna Lodge, the former home of Sir Heaton Rhodes. I’m a bit hazy on what he did and when he did it, but he imported many of the British daffodils (that we now call historic) at a time when it was easy to import plant material into New Zealand. These were planted in the field in front of the house where they still grow. According to the show schedule, the Rhodes Silver Challenge Cup was presented by him for twelve varieties of daffodils, New Zealand raised, three stems of each. This is Class 1 in the show schedule because it’s the most prestigious award. Here is the daffodil field down the hill in front of his house.
Next to be visited were Stuart and June McLachlan who purchased, are growing, and are sorting out the David Bell collection. Some of the cultivars have been identified, but there are still a lot that await identification.
In the McLachlan’s field I found the following strange seedling. I don’t know whether David Bell ever saw it or whether it’s a mutation that occurred later. Each of the six perianth segments has two lobes or two mitten thumbs. It was surprisingly symmetric.
Next stop was the home of Malcolm Wheeler and Rozanne Burnby who exhibit under the name Malroze. They hybridize both standards and miniatures. Here Malcolm is pointing out a particular cultivar to Kathleen Simpson.
Many Daffnet readers know of David Adams from his contributions to Daffnet. His home and fields are just a short distance from the Christchurch airport. He accompanied the tour to all the sites we visited in the Christchurch area, and here he (and his wife Leitha) invited the tour group to lunch as their home.
There are a couple fields behind David’s home, and here’s the view of one.
Michael and Marian Brown live outside Rangiora which is north of Christchurch. Here’s Michael greeting tour group members.
Michael’s daffodil field is behind his home.
Carolyn and David Campbell are primarily grow for bulbs and cut flowers rather than exhibition. Their business is called Silva Dell Daffodils. Here are Carolyn and David.
They’ve organized their daffodils into several fields, and here’s a view of one of them. That’s Carolyn with her back to the camera and George McGowan near her.
We next headed out of Christchurch to the southern reaches of the Canterbury Plain. Our first stop was at Pleasant Valley Daffodils, formerly operated by Colin Crotty (who’s still active hybridizing and exhibiting daffodils) and now by Cindy and Gordon Coombes. It started to rain shortly after our arrival so I took a picture of Gordon but not of the fields. Fortunately for me they have a garage with daffodils on display for the public, so I photographed in the dryness of the garage rather than the wetness of the fields.
You saw a photo of Alistair Davey in the post about the North Island National Show. He and wife Joan grow daffodils, tulips, and other plants near Temuka on the South Island. Here’s a view of one field. The red flowers on the left are tulips, not daffodils.
And lastly our tour will take us to Dunedin for the World Daffodil Convention. That will be post 7 in the series of 7.
Kirby Fong