Can anyone shed any light on a daffodil that flowered last spring in my South Otago garden? I ‘inherited’ it from my late mother and she gave it to me bearing the name ‘George Broughton’. It flowered late September here in NZ – the first time for many years. It is very hard to flower and I believe I’ve only achieved 3 flowerings in all the many years I’ve had it.
I am wondering if ‘George Broughton’ is perhaps a trade name. There is no daffodil of that name recorded in the Daffodil Register. Nancy Tacket and I would greatly appreciate any information as to its possible true identity please. You can see the flower at the daffseek link below.
http://daffseek.org/query/query-detail.php?value1=George%20Broughton&lastpage=1&
Hi Noeline,
David Bell often walked down his patch with a visitor who commented that they liked a particular seedling. David would reply that he would name the cultivar with their name hence 2W-P Margaret McDonald. David gave a bulb to Margaret which she has since lost and none of us know where to find a bulb of it. I suspect it is still growing under number in the David Bell Collection. I suggest that someone named a cultivar for George Broughton in the same circumstances.
Alternatively sometimes we get an unnamed bulb from a friend and put their name on the label, which over time becomes the name used for the cultivar even though it may be a registered cultivar from some other source. Maybe the best path is to find out who George Broughton was.
David Adams
Hello Noeline,
I remember this flower at your house and I also now remember that I was going to offer you a name for it! I suggest you look at Narcissus x intermedius and compare the two. It’s a flower that needs considerably more heat than your location provides, which could certainly account for its lack of bloom; it only flowers with fair results for me, in Missouri, yet in hot and dry places like Texas, it thrives. I think that is what it is. Maybe David Bell acquired it from one George Broughton? Good luck!
http://daffseek.org/query/query-detail.php?value1=N.%20x%20intermedius&lastpage=1&which=hist1
Ours rarely flowers with more than 3 or 4 florets to a stem; usually only two or three. In warmer climes I’ve seen it flower like those pictured here, with multiple florets per stem. It’s a fine old flower, and quite fragrant, too. That blunt, goblet-shaped and slightly incurved cup (from the tazetta side)–as well as its difficulty to grow and reluctancy to flower–are what make me think yours is N. x intermedius.
George Broughton was a very nice man, I believe from England. He was at one of the early International Shows of the Daffodil Society. I remember his kindness but not his flower.
Just to say that Google tells me that George Broughton Sn. and Jn. were English rugby players. Sn was an International player in the 1920’s and Jn. played in the 50’s. Being rugby players may have raised their standing in New Zealand and warranted having a daffodil named after them. Was David Bell a rugby fan? possibly a stupid question.
Bob Moore
Many thanks for all your replies. All make perfectly good sense. I am very sure that my parents did not know any other Mr Broughton and the fact that there was an English public identity of that name presents a further possibility and the memory of a gentleman of that name in daffodil circles is even more compelling that this variety I grow is named after him.
Not a clue, Bob, if David Bell was a rugby fan! David Adams may have some knowledge of this.
I have a number of David Bell catalogues but none record this flower. Is there anyone else out there who could check their catalogues as David Bell is the mostly likely supplier of this variety.
Thanks Jason, I will have a look at the pics of X intermedius after I’ve given Donald a haircut! Family reunion this weekend so I’ve got to have him looking his best. I’ll report to you shortly the success of the crosses you made when here.
Cheers, Noeline McL