Monday 1 March 2021

 

 Narcissus Telamonius Plenus is one of the names this bloom goes by. Vincent Van Sion first noticed this variety of double daffodil flowering in his London garden in 1620. The ones in my London garden come from the excellent Shipton Bulbs so I hope they won't mind me quoting from their catalogue:
 
 "We feel this is really the double form of the wild N. pseudonarcissus despite the cultivar name (in fact an old synonym of N. pseudonarcissus flore piano). These daffodils appear in woodlands all over Britain, sometimes appearing with a green tinge in the petals, as with our local "Derwen" daffodil. They are nowadays associated with the very old variety N. Van Sion, introduced in the 17th. century but the forms inhabiting our British woods and gardens are smaller and wilder looking than the Van Sion offered by Dutch growers today, with a much smaller flowering bulb."
 
 Like the double form of the Common Snowdrop I mentioned recently this rather shaggy looking daffodil may well have been a natural variation selected from the wild. From where exactly we will probably never know because even Van Sion couldn't identify its origin.