In 2006 I made a speculative cross between the Havens pink jonquil ‘Pink Setting’ and one of my autumn flowering little greens. I had two ideas in mind at that time. My mini greens all tend to flower in the late fall and early winter, long before the first shows. The Havens’ jonquils are so late, they miss all the California competitions, so I hoped to make green miniatures that would flower in between the two seasons that could be used in the shows. The other idea was more bizarre. What happens when one crosses a strong green with a strong pink? Could I make a brown daffodil this way? When the seedlings started flowering several years ago they were a disappointment, being neither miniature nor of show quality and certainly not brown. I was going to dig them up and discard them this year.
‘Pink Setting’ x Green seedling
This morning, after one of our rare rainy spells I was checking out the various seedlings when I noticed this little flower hiding at the back of the row. I don’t remember it flowering in previous years and from the size of the plant and lack of side shoots this has to be its first flower. It must have taken 9 years to reach flowering size. I have no idea how long it had been open. The flower is a little greener than the photo shows and if it had not been battered by the storm or if it had been picked earlier it might have been used at Livermore next Saturday. Each flower measures 42mm in diameter. I think I’ll keep it.
Harold