The original miniature doubles seem to have been found by happenstance and until recently there was almost no deliberate effort to breed them. Good doubles are slow in coming as one needs to rely on standard doubles with stigmas to make them. Putting double pollen onto miniatures has not been successful yet. Anyway here are four that I like. Others to open soon, I hope. So far my best efforts come from ‘Kidson’ x N. dubius. These have had the best shape probably because they rely on the good genes in David Jackson’s ‘Kidson’. The one displayed here is the earliest to bloom and has great conformation, but some of the latter blooming ones are even better.
‘Kidson’ x N. dubius
4W-W
‘Popeye’ x N. dubius has produced a few flowers with stuffed cups as has ‘Viennese Waltz’. The flower below is a sibling to that in an earlier posting. None of these have great perianths.
‘Popeye’ x N. dubius
4W-Y
David Adam’s Little Kiwi is registered at 53 mm but it can come smaller. That has better form than many of my doubles. Several of my doubles have too many petals and petaloids. This can made the individual blooms too heavy to hold up, especially when they are multiheaded like the ‘Blossom’ x N. dubius below. A sibling has slightly larger flowers and has even more trouble holding its head up.
‘Blossom’ x N. dubius
4W-W/Y
‘Baldock’ crossed with a small jonquilla-alliance hybrid made this little double. It measures 47mm across but is freshly opened. It may grow a little more as it matures.
‘Baldock’ x jonquil seedling
4Y-Y
8O Harold