Narcissus

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ezeiza

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #15 on: September 26, 2011, 07:07:53 PM »
'Hawera' grown in New Zealand is clean.

'Tete a Tete', produced by the trillion as a pot plant is generally regarded as a virus within a plant's shape but the Dutch have cleaned stock by tissue culture.

Propagating from seed is only valid for species. One can not grow a variety from its own seed and obtain the same one. That is the almost unsurpassable barrier with hybrids: once they got virused, it is goodbye.

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John

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #16 on: September 26, 2011, 07:26:57 PM »
I managed to flower Lilium formosanum in 3 months from germinating which I'm sure is a fluke but it is fast. On the other hand I sowed some seed of Iris ibirica which took seven years to germinate but I did eventually get it to flowering! These things weren't an issue when I was in my 30's, now though?
I am still growing trees though (see Platanus orientalis) but passing them on to others!!!!!
Today my first Narcissus tazetta came out which is what I intended to say.
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.

pamela

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #17 on: September 27, 2011, 07:49:42 PM »
Thanks so much everyone for the ideas. I do love white Narcissus but they are quite messy for months after when the leaves are flopping and then going yellow. I am going to try and find some of the suggestions for naturalising. Meanwhile I enclose a photo of mine in January and which I have always thought were N. tazetta...am I right?
Jávea, Costa Blanca, Spain
Min temp 5c max temp 38c  Rainfall 550 mm 

"Who passes by sees the leaves;
 Who asks, sees the roots."
     - Charcoal Seller, Madagascar

ezeiza

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #18 on: September 27, 2011, 08:08:20 PM »
Pamela, foliage in tazetta hybrids grow really messy after flowering. A lot more bulky and floppy than in daffodils. Of course in either case green foliage can not be cut back or no flowers next year.

pamela

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #19 on: September 27, 2011, 08:20:24 PM »
What a beautiful picture of N. poeticus, Jorun.  It shows so well the delightful way the petals turn back. It is quite lovely in that clump.
Jávea, Costa Blanca, Spain
Min temp 5c max temp 38c  Rainfall 550 mm 

"Who passes by sees the leaves;
 Who asks, sees the roots."
     - Charcoal Seller, Madagascar

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JTh

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #20 on: September 27, 2011, 09:04:35 PM »
It was a fantastic place, Pamela I actually cropped the photo a bit too much, the big clump was nicely framed by some very healthy-looking veratrums, the combination was  perfect, as John said
Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.

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Fleur Pavlidis

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #21 on: September 27, 2011, 09:08:34 PM »
Could you experts tell me what the effects of the viruses in bulbs, narcissus and others, are and whether it is possible to recognise it on the bulb itself?
MGS member, Greece. I garden in Attica, Greece and Mt Goulinas (450m) Central Greece

ezeiza

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #22 on: September 27, 2011, 11:03:59 PM »
You surely hit the nest! In the bulb, corm, etc. it is impossible to see any sign of infection, what makes the whole thing really serious, since the virus is present in all part of the plant, including roots. It is also present in any dry part of the bulb like dry leaves and roots and tunics. There is a large range of vectors and a number of different viruses that affect plants. Some weaken the plants slowly, others are demolishing. The infection by more than one is disastrous and recent research show they may have new and ingenious ways to leap from plant to plant.

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Alisdair

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #23 on: September 28, 2011, 07:44:02 AM »
It's in the growing plant that you see the results of virus infection, above all in a general weakness, poor flowering, lack of increase. It's much more often this poor growth that shows, than particular visible symptoms; lots of the viruses that do affect narcissuses don't actually have visible outward symptoms. Sometimes a narcissus can even tolerate one virus without being weakened, but often they get infected by more than one, in which case the general deterioration can get quite dramatic.
One or two individual viruses do have visible symptoms in growing plants, though. In narcissus, the commonest of these is probably yellow stripe virus, which may produce curly and/or finely streaked leaves, and/or streaky flowers, and perhaps deformed flower stems. Another warning sign is what looks like bruised purplish streaking up leaves or stems, fading to white, with the leaves then dying off - that's probably white streak virus.
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

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fragman

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #24 on: September 28, 2011, 04:21:52 PM »
I love Narcissus tazetta 'Avalanche' because it blooms in March and it a reliable plant blooming every year.
Narcissus tazetta 'Constantinopol' is also great, although it flowering heads are often too heavy after rain showers, the bulb will split and form an impressive blooming clump.
Ori Fragman-Sapir
Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

pamela

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #25 on: October 03, 2011, 08:16:41 AM »
Thank you for that Alisdair..very useful.... I hadn't read the rest of that thread.
Jávea, Costa Blanca, Spain
Min temp 5c max temp 38c  Rainfall 550 mm 

"Who passes by sees the leaves;
 Who asks, sees the roots."
     - Charcoal Seller, Madagascar

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Fleur Pavlidis

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #26 on: October 04, 2011, 08:05:09 AM »
I've been unsuccessfully searching for a photo from 2003 when the then garden assistant at the MGS garden, Silvia Villegas who'll be in Mallorca for those of you going, was sitting in the front terrace plaiting the leaves of Paperwhites. They were works of art. Sally has never found anyone among the volunteers to do them so well. Tying the leaves into a knot stops the flop but doesn't look so good.
MGS member, Greece. I garden in Attica, Greece and Mt Goulinas (450m) Central Greece

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Miriam

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #27 on: October 05, 2011, 03:50:41 PM »
A natural hybrid from Spain: Narcissus x perez-larae is in bloom  :D
agronomist from Rehovot, Israel

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Alisdair

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #28 on: October 05, 2011, 05:48:12 PM »
Lovely picture, Miriam!
The hybrid Narcissus perezlarae has an interesting history. When it was discovered in the 19th century, one parent N. cavanillesii was thought not to be a narcissus at all and was called Carregnoa humilis (syn. Braxireon humile, or Tapeinanthus humilis), so it was originally described as Carregnoa dubia. The hybrid then disappeared, being rediscovered in the 1960s – it now seems that new populations are continuing to emerge spontaneously from time to time. By then the single-species Carregnoa genus had been merged into Narcissus. (Paul Christian calls that parent N. humilis, but that is a synonym of N. cavanillesii. The other parent is N. serotinus.)
See some interesting notes by Isabel Marques on the cross-pollination of the two parent species here.
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

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Miriam

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Re: Narcissus
« Reply #29 on: October 05, 2011, 07:48:31 PM »
Thank you for this interesting information!
agronomist from Rehovot, Israel