THE DAFFODIL AS A SHOW FLOWER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 26, 26 June 1912, Page 39

THE DAFFODIL AS A SHOW FLOWER.

A writer in the “•Journal of Horticulture” says:—There is no other flower with the possible exception of the rose, that looks at home in so many different surroundings as does the daffodil. A little while ago I saw it. in the form of the Lent lily, growing in thousands almost wild over grassy meadows. Its pale golden blooms, gleaming in the light of the western sun. looked so lovelv with the green setting given them h: t.i* grass that I could not Leip thinking this must surely be th? right and best way of growing the dilfolil. But when I came hoi: e ; y.. 1 wcni into the garden. I saw the l;:ds an.l borders, banks and rockery filled with some hundreds of different forms of this flower; the effect of the big trumpets on their stalwart stems, the graceful Leedsi ami the starry poet lens was altogether wonderful. The blending of countless shades of white and cream. yellow and orange, seemed to prove that, after all. the daffodil was equally as happy and effective in the cultivated garden. Ihe last daffodil picture of which I have to write is suggested by the title of this paper, and is a picture in which

the exquisite form of the daffodil is better shown than it can possibly Im* in garden or meadow. 1 mean, of course, the daffodil as a cut Hower, and more especially as a Hower for exhibition. Anyone who lias visited the recent* shows of the R.li.S. will agree that, as shown on these occasions, the daffodil is preeminent in this respect. The fact that it can be cut as a hud many days before the show, and opened in water; the comparative ease with which it can be packed; and. finally, its adaptability to artistic arrangement in vases, all tend to make it an ideal exhibition Hower. It is. therefore, surely somewhat of an anomaly that till this year there has been no opportunity for amateurs to show daffodils in London. Those who wanted to do so had to travel to Birmingham, or to some other provincial town, such as Huntingdon or Tunbridge Wells, for ihe purpose. This year the Narcissus Committee of the R.li.S. decided to have a two days* show, in which a certain number of classes should be arranged for amateurs. I bis was held on April 16 and 17. Writing in the autumn, some daffodil growers thought too early a date had been fixed and in an average year no doubt this would Lave been found to be the ease; but in this abnormally warm spring the difficulty has been to keep back the blooms, and to show them with the brilliancy of colour in cup and corona which is essential for success. It has only been possible to do so by opening many varieties in water in cool (not cold) rather dark sheds or rooms, or by shading the Howers as they grew. The amateurs’ classes were divided into two groups, but the only distinction between! the two was the number of varieties to be shown in each class, and as group 3 contained more classes than group 2. it seemed quite a toss up which would be the easiest group to show' in. As a matter of fact, the competitors were pretty evenly divided between the two divisions. Perhaps another year the Narcissus Committee will consider the advisability of adopting the plan, which has worked so well at Birmingham. of setting a limit to the price to be paid for the varieties shown. At

Birmingham, 10/6 is the outside price a bulb may cost in group B, and 1/ in group C. One of the prettiest groups at the show was arranged by Mr. Herbert C hapman, of Rye. It consisted of nine varieties of Poeticus Narcissus. Mr. C hapman makes a speciality of this beautiful section, and always has fine specimens of the newest varieties. In this

case, the arrangement of the flowers appealed to one quite as much as the beauty of the flowers themselves. They were set up with plenty of nice straight foliage, yet not so much as to make the vases look heavy, ami Mr. Chapman had succeeded in arranging his vases in such a way as to avoid any stiffness, and yet to give an appearance of graceful symmetry. The fine variety Soc-

rates was conspicuous. Mr. Christopher Bourne, of Bletchley, whose Daffodils are always worth looking at, showed some lovely blooms of Queen of Hearts, a

Barri variety which, in its way. was as fine as anything in the show, at any rate to those to whom perfection of form and softness of colouring appeal more than mere size and brilliancy.