2024 Fortuna Show – ADS Award Winners

Fortuna is a city in coastal California about a five hour drive north of San Francisco. The Fortuna Garden Club held its 47th annual daffodil show this March 23-24. There were 114 entries by 15 exhibitors for a total of 431 stems. Following are the ADS award winners in the order in which they’re listed in the official show report.I’ll not mention any awards that weren’t given. After the show I noticed that my camera was inadvertently set to a wide fstop that led to a shallow depth of field, so the rear parts of some exhibits in the photos are sometimes blurred.

The Gold Ribbon is awarded to the best standard daffodil in the show, excluding the container grown section. The winner was ‘Crackington’ 4Y-O exhibited by George Armantrout. It’s not often that a double daffodil is best in show!

The Rose Ribbon is awarded to the best standard seedling exhibited by its originator in the show, excluding the container grown section. A seedling is an unregistered daffodil identified by a number assigned by its originator, the person who first bloomed it. The winner was seedling 17/13/10 11aY-Y exhibited by George Armantrout. The parentage is (‘Boslowick’ x ‘Geometrics’) x ‘Karigal’. Yes, it’s unusual for a split corona to be the best seedling!

The Miniature Gold Ribbon is awarded to the best miniature daffodil in the show, excluding the container grown section. The winner was ‘Pequenita’ 7Y-Y exhibited by Kirby Fong.

The White Ribbon is awarded to the best set of three standard daffodils in the show. The winner was ‘Mission Bells’ 5W-W exhibited by Rhonda Fry. It’s not often that a triandrus cultivar wins such a top award. As you may have noticed, this was an unusual show.

The Miniature White Ribbon is awarded to the best set of three miniature daffodils in the show. The winner was N. jonquilla var. henriquesii 13Y-Y exhibited by Theresa Fritchle.

The best intermediate daffodil can be selected from the Intermediate Section or any of the standard collections. An intermediate daffodil is a standard daffodil whose diameter is typically greater than 50 mm up to 80 mm with a single floret in divisions 1, 2, 3, 4, or 11. The winner was ‘Little Tyke’ 1Y-Y exhibited by Kirby Fong.

The best set of three intermediates was ‘Butterfly Kiss’ 2W-Y exhibited by Rhonda Fry.

The best bloom in the Historic Section was ‘Seagull’ 3W-Y (1892) exhibited by Theresa Fritchle. An historic daffodil is a cultivar (not species) registered or in gardens before 1940.

The best set of three in the Historic Section was ‘Hawera’ 5Y-Y (1928) exhibited by Donna Farris. Yes, ‘Hawera’ is a miniature daffodil.

There’s an award for the best daffodil in the Classic Section and for the best single stem exhibit in the Classic Section. Both ribbons went to ‘Bridal Crown’ 4W-Y (1949) exhibited by Donna Farris. A classic daffodil is a standard cultivar registered between 1940 and 1969 inclusive.

The best set of three in the Classic Section was ‘Bridal Crown’ 4W-Y (1949) exhibited by Donna Farris.

There were four entries in the class for standard daffodils grown and shown in their containers. The winner was ‘White Lion’ 4W-WYY exhibited by Terri Emmons. Notice that the container is a giant coffee cup. If you need to cut back on your coffee to one cup per day, that’s the cup for you!

Flowers in the best collection of 5 historic standard daffodils were:
Back: ‘Queen of the North’ 3W-Y (1908), ‘Beersheba’ 1W-W (1923), ‘Statue’ 2W-Y (1938);
Front: ‘Elvira’ 8W-YYO (1902), ‘Seagull’ 3W-Y (2893).
The exhibitor was Theresa Fritchle.

The Red-White-Blue collection class calls for 5 standard daffodils of American breeding. Flowers in the winning collection are:
Back: ‘Tang’ 2Y-O (Havens), ‘Pineapple Prince’ 2Y-W (Havens);
Front: ‘Geometrics’ 2W-Y (DuBose), ‘Phil’s Gift’ 1Y-Y (Reed), ‘Dayton Lake’ 2W-Y (Reed).
The exhibitor was Theresa Fritchle.

The Purple Ribbon is awarded to the best collection of 5 standard daffodils. The winner was this white collection consisting of:
Back: ‘Sutherland Falls’ 5W-W, ‘Snowboard’ 2W-GWW;
Front: ‘Yare Valley’ 1W-W, ‘Ice Wings’ 5W-W, ‘Lakeland Snow’ 2W-W.
The exhibitor was Kirby Fong.

The Bozievich collection class calls for 12 standard daffodil cultivars and/or species from at least 4 Royal Horticultural Society divisions. The winning collection’s flowers were:
Back row: ‘Charlie Connor’ 1Y-O, ‘Cataract’ 1W-W, ‘Creag Dubh’ 2O-R;
Middle row: ‘Causeway Winner’ 3Y-YYR, ‘Rim Ride’ 3W-GYO, ‘Demmo’ 2Y-O, ‘Warmwell’ 3W-O;
Front row: ‘POPS Legacy’ 1W-Y, ‘Brindabella’ 4Y-Y, ‘Frostkist’ 6W-W, ‘Bailey’ 2O-O, ‘Olly’s Medal’ 1W-Y.
The exhibitor was Rhonda Fry.

The Throckmorton collection class calls for 15 standard daffodil cultivars and/or species from 15 different RHS classifications. A classification consists of a division number and color code. Flowers in the winning collection were:
Back row: ‘Pax Romana’ 1W-P, ‘Surrey’ 2Y-R, ‘Barnstorm’ 2W-W, ‘Menehay’ 11aY-O, ‘Geometrics’ 2W-Y;
Middle row: ‘Trumpet Warrior’ 1YYW-WWY, Frey TEF 6/1 2W-YYO, ‘Phil’s Gift’ 1Y-Y, ‘Oregon Lights’ 2W-O, ‘Hot Gossip’ 2Y-O;
Front row: ‘Brooke Ager’ 2W-P, ‘Stylish’ 2O-O, ‘Denarius’ 2Y-Y, ‘Crackington’ 4Y-O, ‘Bell Rock’ 1W-Y.
The exhibitor was Theresa Fritchle.

The Quinn collection class calls for 24 standard daffodil cultivars and/or species from at least 5 RHS divisions. Flowers in the winning collection were:
Back row: ‘Pax Romana’ 1W-P, ‘Boslowick’ 11aY-O, 09/6/3 2W-W (Homestead x Rosemeryn), ‘Sideling Hill’ 1Y-Y, ‘Geometrics’ 2W-Y, 06/2/4 2Y-O (Fire Alarm x Canny);
3rd row: ‘Creag Dubh’ 2O-R, ‘Barnstorm’ 2W-W, ‘Menehay’ 11aY-O, 17/22/1 2W-W, ‘Crackington’ 4Y-O, ‘Orange Supreme’ 2W-O;
2nd row: ‘Avalanche’ 8W-Y, 17/13/10 11aY-Y ((Boslowick x Geometrics) x Karigal), 06/3/5 2W-Y (Oregon Lights x Williamsburg), ‘Katherine Jenkins’ 7Y-R, ‘Bell Rock’ 1W-Y, 17/13/11 11aY-O;
Front row: ‘Swift Arrow’ 6Y-Y, ‘Verran Rose’ 2W-GPP, ‘Surrey’ 2Y-R, ‘Regal Bliss’ 2W-GWW, ‘Sportsman’ 2Y-R, ‘Pink China’ 2W-P.
The Gold Ribbon winner and the Rose Ribbon winner came from this collection. The exhibitor was George Armantrout.

The Lavender Ribbon is awarded to the best collection of 5 miniature daffodils. Flowers in the winning collection were:
Back: ‘Crevette’ 8W-O, ‘Pixie’s Sister’ 7Y-Y, ‘Flomay 7W-WWP;
Front: ‘Oxford Gold’ 10Y-Y, ‘Little Rusky’ 7Y-GYO.
The exhibitor was Jon Kawaguchi.

The Bankhead class calls for 9 miniature daffodils from at least 3 RHS divisions. The winning exhibit has:
Back row: ‘Englander’ 6Y-Y, ‘Crevette’ 8W-O, ‘Pixie;s Sister’ 7Y-Y, ‘Flomay’ 7W-WWP;
Middle row: ‘Pico Yellow’ 2W-Y, ‘Little Rusky’ 7Y-GYO, ‘Oxford Gold’ 10Y-Y;
Front row: ‘Heart to Heart’ 7Y-Y, N. cuatrecasasii 13Y-Y.
The exhibitor was Jon Kawaguchi.

The Watrous class calls for 12 miniature daffodils from at least 3 RHS divisions. The winning exhibit consists of:
Back row: ‘Little Rusky’ 7Y-GYO, ‘Crevette’ 8W-O, ‘Pixie’s Sister’ 7Y-Y, ‘Flomay’ 7W-WWP, ‘Tête Bouclé’ 4Y-Y;
Middle row: N. bulb. subsp. bulb. var. citrinus 13Y-Y, ‘Itsy Bitsy Splitsy’ 11aY-O, JBK 16-05-02 10Y-Y;
Front row: ‘Mary Plumstead’ 5Y-Y, ‘Oxford Gold’ 10Y-Y, ‘Pico Yellow’ 2W-Y.
The exhibitor was Jon Kawaguchi.

And that’s it for the award winning exhibits. The Silver Ribbon for the exhibitor winning the most blue ribbons in the horticulture division goes to Kirby Fong with 18 blues, just edging out Theresa Fritchle with 17.