Saw my first daffodils in bloom today, mind you they are always out first in
the particular spot I'm talking about, south devon. I've never seen them
later than Jan 1st in recent years. The ones in my gardem by contrast won't
be poking their heads up for ages yet, I wonder what it is that makes this
particular clump come out so early?

Andy

On 25/12/08 02:31, in article , "Andy"
wrote:

Saw my first daffodils in bloom today, mind you they are always out first in
the particular spot I'm talking about, south devon. I've never seen them
later than Jan 1st in recent years. The ones in my gardem by contrast won't
be poking their heads up for ages yet, I wonder what it is that makes this
particular clump come out so early?

Andy

Whereabouts in South Devon, Andy? We saw a couple out in Ivybridge the
other day but ours won't be through for a while yet, either. We're in the
South Hams not far from Totnes. There are some varieties which are meant to
be very early so perhaps the ones you've seen are some of those. I don't
know which are the earlies, mind you!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)

There's a garden half a mile up the road at Babbacombe that is a mass
of jonquil type Narcissi and relatively dwarf, true pseudonarcissus-
like dafs. I drove past just before Christmas and the colour was
extremely cheering on such a dull day.

I had a peek into the leaf axils of the arum (Zantedeschia) clumps
here and there are flower buds just showing. Due to their position
and the soil, (full sun, nearly bone dry in summer, sopping wet in
winter), the Zantedeschias tend to behave as they would in S. Africa:
dying down by July, re-emerging in late autumn and growing through the
winter. Flowering usually starts in Feb/March, continuing through to
early summer.

Sorry, I digress, never having held any great attraction to Daffodils
and Narcissi, I've not bothered to remember varietal names and tend to
lump them into approximate groups. I recognise 'February Gold', 'Ice
Follies', 'Cheerfulness', Dutchmaster and a few others, but they are a
tad fleeting (albeit very welcome to see) for me to get wholly
enthusiastic.