More Minis

There was a pleasant surprise waiting for me yesterday. The first flower from ‘Pentire’ a division 11aY-R flower from Scamp by N. assoanus. It is a small flower with an evenly split corona lying flat against the perianth and two florets to the stem. Was hoping for a red corona but will not quibble about color here as the soft yellow is pleasing. There are two buds to the stem.  ‘Pentire’ is an intermediate flower which does not make seed freely although I keep trying it and buy in new bulbs frequently for miniature breeding. This is the first hybrid from N. assoanus that I have found to be noteworthy.

‘Viennese Waltz’ is registered as a division 4 W-W but is actually a cyclamineus with a stuffed cup. It always has a stigma and breeds freely. Crossed with N. dubius it gave my first miniature double which, while it is still alive, is a weak grower and is barely surviving. Here ‘Viennese Waltz’ was crossed with N. fernandesii. I was hoping for minis with stuffed cups but the first two to flower, shown below have normal coronas. They do measure miniature being under 40 mm across. Two different seedlings are shown below, one with a flat perianth and the other partially reflexed. The first is a borderline division 1/2. Would one classify the other as div. 6? There are however almost no div 2W-Y miniature flowers available. There are still more seedlings of this cross to flower, so hopefully some with better quality and even doubles will show themselves.  The jonquilla section blood in them should make them more persistent in the garden than flowers bred from the usual miniature trumpets.

‘Viennese Waltz’ x N. fernandesii.

Harold