Famous offspring of a tiny parent
Narcissus cyclamineus is a small, exquisite species, native to North West Spain and Portugal. It is slow to increase and therefore scarce, expensive and rarely seen outside specialist collections. It is however, the parent of many popular varieties, to which it has given its most distinctive and endearing feature, swept back petals, like those of a Cyclamen.
Its most famous offspring, ‘Tête a Tête’, is perhaps the best known and most widely grown Narcissus in history-possibly the single bulb of which more is produced than any other on the planet. Its popularity is thoroughly deserved. It is easy, hardy, long-lived and prolific and opens joyfully early, with the first breath of spring, in late February or early March. With its short stature it is perfect for containers as well as rock gardens and borders and will happily naturalise in grass. It has much of the charm of its wild parent, but has a lot more vigour.
By a curious twist of fate, when you think of the skill, knowledge, time, patience and dogged persistence that have gone into the breeding of daffodils and Narcissi over several generations, the most popular one of all time arose by accident. Admittedly it occurred in the garden of a distinguished breeder of Narcissi, Alec Gray, who could see when he was onto a good thing. He spotted a seed pod on an uncommon hybrid, ‘Cyclataz’, which rarely sets seed. In that pod were three seeds. One became ‘Tête a Tête’ and the other two ‘Jumblie’ and ‘Quince’, each of which he judged to be worth putting into cultivation. The pollen parent he concluded had to be N.cyclamineus.Though nothing like as well-known as their sibling seedling, both the others are good, distinct varieties which have stood the test of time. ‘Jumblie’ is similar in colour and stature to ‘Tête a Tête’, with more steeply swept back petals, opening a little later. Both have been awarded the AGM (Award of Garden Merit), the highest accolade bestowed by the Royal Horticultural Society. ‘Quince’ varies mainly in its colour, which is soft, creamy yellow. When you think that breeders usually discard a high percentage of hundreds of seedlings from deliberate crosses, this really is an extraordinary story.
There are many other brilliant cyclamineus hybrids. ‘February Gold’ (actually usually March flowering, in my experience) is the tallest (10-12”/25-30cm) and most vigorous of the better known ones, with a bright golden trumpet and paler petals. It is easy and reliable, ideal for naturalising in grass and always makes a great impact.
‘Jetfire’ is the boldest in colouring, wonderfully bright and cheerful, with a rich orange trumpet contrasting with yellow petals. ‘Jack Snipe’ is a personal favourite, with a lemon-yellow trumpet and milk-white petals. ‘Jenny’ I consider one of the loveliest of all Narcissi, opening with a slightly paler lemon trumpet than Jack Snipe’s, which gradually fades through cream to white, so that the whole flower, which lasts for weeks on end, becomes white.
Now is the time to plant bulbs of these delightful varieties, if you haven’t already done so – no need to panic though – they are remarkably resilient and will come up almost however late you are! If you’re planting them in grass, remember the trick of throwing them up in the air and planting them where they fall – it gives them the natural look you are aiming at and makes placing them very easy!
