Tazettas and Jonquillas at Wilfs .

We are continuing to have a warm late winter  – early spring in the Kapiti – Horowhenua area and many other regions of N .Z. Many areas had record warm July temperature figures – the grass is growing and the daffodils are flowering .The serious shows are a month away in early September , with a few North Island groups having smaller bench shows in late August .We could use a good, soaking rain but a recent visit to Wilf Halls garden showed that the early tazettas are in full flush and , surprisingly , a few jonquillas were also noted .

The cross  Matador – x – White Pearl has given two nice seedlings ,  WH – MX 105 was a well formed , smooth petaled tazetta .

 

A sibling , WH – MX 106  was the highlight of the visit .A  flat orange cup with a much deeper throat was very appealing . It just commanded attention – drawing me back for another look .Both are Jonquilla – x – tazetta  crosses with dominant tazetta characteristics but with far fewer flowers per head than Wilf is getting from most tazettas .

I had not seen ” Deuced ” before  .It is a 2002 registration from Rod at Glenbrook Bulb Farm .Bred from  Dear Me – x – N. ferdanandesii and registered  7 W – W , the Dear Me influence was showing as quite pink tones here .

The Limeqilla influence is apparent in this neat little seedling from  Limequilla – x – Max Hamilton 7 Y – Y.  The neat , very round flowers mature from mid yellow to milky white .

Mention was made on Daffnet last week of identifying the fertility in Wilfs seedling tazettas to enable the best to be used in future crosses .Wilf gave me this big headed , very strong seedling  WH – AVX – 8 to use as a seed parent , chasing mult-iheaded doubles . It is a little earlier than I would prefer but certainly sets plenty of seed .As with most Avalanche seedlings , Wilfs biggest complaint is their earliness .

” Little Becky ” is avery bright 12 Y – Y  and made a colourful pot outside Wilfs shed .