W-O Cyclamineus

Daffnet,

Attached is a 6W-O seedling of mine (‘Woodthrush’ x ‘Iroquois’).   The cross was made in 2002 and is slated for a second lining out this fall.

My goal when breeding this was to create 1W-O and 6W-O flowers (much like Steve Vinisky’s unusual cross with white trumpets—who knows until you try, right?); ‘Woodthrush’, though a bit stocky for some, was my best contender at the time (I didn’t know ‘Tracey’ was also viable, alas!), and I was so enrapt with the intense colors of  ‘Iroquois’ that I couldn’t resist.  And so, upon its maiden flowering, I was quite impressed that this one flower in the entire strain was exactly what I was hoping to achieve!

Upon opening, the flowers are very distinctly 6W-O; the orange is deep, attaining my very goal of a richly colored 6W-O with full length coronas and excellent reflex.  The flowers are generally 2.5″ across, and the plant hovers at about 10″ tall.  It’s extremely floriferous (first bloom was in 2007; this year the clump had 20+ flowers on it).  Its foliage, too is quite proportionate to the whole of the plant—it’s narrower than most from this cross of predominately 6W-Y, 6Y-W, and 6Y-Y flowers, most with peculiarly twisted necks or with gargantuan flowers on dwarfed plants—these traits, I assume, are coming from ‘Woodthrush’, as it can be a rather coarse. Plant-wise and floral form-wise, this seedling is an excellent example of a cyclamineus daffodil.

More impressive than its form and colors, to me, are the colors of the petals themselves.  It’s hard to see in this photo so I’m going to try and post another, soon.  The petals are distinctly washed orange, of the same orange that ‘Sundust’ can develop:  that creamy, sherbet-y orange color that’s so delicate and lovely.  This quickly fades out in strong sun, but surely this provides potential for all-orange cycs–I plan to breed it with things like John Reed’s ‘Ivory Orange’, Brian Duncan’s ‘Bronzewing’, Elise Havens’ ‘Magic Lantern’, and of course, Clive Postles’ ‘Sundust’.  Elise’s ‘Arrowhead’ would be a good contender too, I think.   (And in a parallel dimension, I’m also going to do more 6W-W x 1W-O and 1Y-R breeding…why not?)

The corona does lighten in the sun, much like ‘Iroquois’ does in our climate, ultimately yeilding a flower that could be classified as 6W-P, of peach color.  I don’ t mind this and I don’t consider it to be ‘”faulted”—a clump manifests multiple color guises, creating quite a dramatic effect.  The corona doesn’t get crispy (which would be a fault), it just turns pale peach, light orange, creamy orange, and every shade in between, depending on the exposure; it is already pale in this image, for what it can be.   If picked upon opening, the corona will stay deeply colored, providing a cyclamineus daffodil unlike any I’ve encountered in my exploration for such a flower.  ‘Stonybrook’ is about as close, form-wise, but it rarely has this much color upon opening and by day two in our climate,  ‘Stonybrook’ is absolutely 6W-W.    Form-wise, this seedling is strongly exhibitable, and I think it will have a strong future.  (These three flowers, however, were photographed mere minutes after I picked them in a pouring rain storm, and they are saturated–you can tell in the petals.    Apologies for not having better photos, but when I live 2.5 hours away from the farm, it’s hard to be there every day!)

I hope you enjoy this—I anticipate there will be a bulb available this fall at the ADS Fall Board Meeting.  Otherwise, await its release in 2016, officially, following the World Daffodil Convention in Saint Louis.

Best, Jason