Each year the Trials Department runs special Open Days at RHS Garden Wisley. They provide plenty of additional information about the trial and give you the opportunity to speak to the experts. The days are free once you are in the garden.
12 April
Small Tulips and Some Daffodils Day
Report: Linda Jones
The day started with visitors joining members of the Daffodil and Tulip Trials Subcommittee to witness and learn how assessments of the current three trials - Daffodil 2005-2006, Daffodil 2006-2007 and Small-flowered Tulips 2006-2008 - were undertaken.
The BBC were present on the day, filming a piece that will form part of the coverage that is being put together for transmission during Chelsea Flower Show.
The cold, dry spring up to the day meant that the small-flowered tulips in particular were performing well with many of the flowers remaining in good condition for weeks. The foliage was in character by being relatively sparse and showing the very different habit, shapes and colours of the individual species.
The Tulipa humilis cultivars were looking good, most having started flowering early in April (some - T. humilis Violacea Yellow Base having started on 22 March). T. humilis cultivars have short stems and some have many flowers per bulb. ‘Lilliput’ and ‘Persian Pearl’ in particular look good, along with T. humilis Albocaerulea Octulata white with a vivid blue eye in the centre of the flower.
The daffodils in Trial 2005-2006 were about one to two weeks later in starting to flower than 2005, but again the flowering period was quite long because of the lack of rain and warmth. The variety of form, colour, height and shape in the two daffodil trials was remarkable.
There were four illustrated talks in the afternoon by members of the Committee:
Growing species tulips in the garden by Lady Christine Skelmersdale owner of the famous Broadleigh Gardens that specialises in small bulbs.
Daffodil cultivation and breeding by Brian Duncan, breeder of some of the best new and innovative daffodil cultivars.
Narcissus in the wild by John Blanchard, world authority on the genus Narcissus and author of an excellent book Narcissus a Guide to Wild Daffodils, published and available from the Alpine Garden Society.
Tulips in the wild by Richard Wilford of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Author of the recent book Tulips: Species and Hybrids for the Gardener available in the RHSE bookshop.
The day concluded with a talk on daffodil and species tulip propagation by David Hide, Senior Supervisor of the Propagation Department, RHS Wisley.
Notes from the talks
Lady Skelmersdale of Broadleigh Garden
Growing species tulips in the garden
Tulips are considered as ephemeral in the garden - yet there are many that return year after year; some requiring additional bulbs each year, others multiply in situ. Tulips prefer limey soil.
For bedding
Tulipa ‘Cantata’ - Fosteriana Group
Tulipa ‘Ballerina’ - Lily-flowered
Tulipa ‘White Triumphator’ - Lily flowered
In the border
Tulipa ‘Red Shine’ - Lily-flowered
Tulipa ‘Purissima’ - Fosteriana Group
Tulipa ‘Rosy Wings’ - Triumph Group
Tulipa ‘Cantata’ - Fosteriana Group
For containers
Tulipa tarda with Muscari ‘Blue Spike’ - delightful in an 45cm pan
Tulipa kaufmanniana ‘Hearts Delight’ - 20cm high very early flowering in early March
Tulipa greigii ‘Red Riding Hood’ - end of March, good with pansies
Tulipa ‘Coleur Cardinal’ - single early
Tulipa ‘Purissima’ and Anemone blanda ‘White Splendour’
Tulipa ‘Apricot Beauty’ - single early
Tulipa ‘Orange Parrot’
Lady Skelmersdale lifts all the above tulips at the end of May because it suits her timetable (i.e post her Chelsea exhibit). They are put into crates with foliage on and stored in the garage. Big bulbs can be replanted, small bulbs can be grown on in the vegetable garden to achieve flowering size.
Lots of tulip species are persistent - the objective of the trial at wisely is to establish which ones these are.
Dry, sunny banks, rock gardens etc.
Tulipa acuminata - thrives in the clay of RHS Garden Hyde Hall
Tulipa turkestanica - need to plant 15cm deep, needs dry conditions
Tulipa neustruevae
Tulipa biflora (of the trade - probably a hybrid) is just 5cm high
Tulipa humilis 'Albocaerulea-oculata' - good white with a lovely blue centre
Tulipa linifolia - a glowing red
Tulipa tarda
Very dry conditions required - e.g. under trees
Tulipa whitatallii - stoloniferous, orange, thrives under lime tree at Broadleigh Gardens
Tulipa clusiana - stoloniferous
Tulipa batalinii ‘Apricot Jewel’ - very persistent
Tulipa sprengeri - spreads readily by seed, bulbs very deep
Tulipa bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’
Tulipa saxatilis - stoloniferous, very persistent
Tulipa sylvestris - stoloniferous, intermittent flowerer
Brian Duncan
Daffodil cultivation and breeding
Brian Duncan is a breeder of Daffodils in Northern Ireland.
Narcissus ‘Tête-à-Tête’ takes up 50% of the acreage of Dutch daffodil growing fields. This little daffodil was bred by Alec Gray of Cornwall.
Cultivation tips
- Plant daffodils deep - at least 15cm deep
- Daffodils like sun - do not plant in deep shade - daffodils will always face the sun, so bear this in mind when planting
- Dappled shade is good for red cups and pinks which often have a tendency to fade in full sun
- Leave foliage on for minimum of six weeks after flowering. This minimum time is the result of experiments at Wisley. Do not tie up foliage after flowering - it restricts the flow back of sap which builds up the bulb and flower for the next year. Much better to choose suitable companion plants to 'camouflage' dying daffodil foliage if it is found to be unsightly
- When leaves have been removed - fill in the holes by hoeing soil (in Northern Ireland this is known as 'scuffing') - so that the Narcissus bulb fly cannot easily enter to lay her eggs
- Caviar for daffodils is sulphate of potash in March - it is reputed to improve vigour, disease resistance and flower colour
Most breeding of daffodils has taken place over the last 150 years. In 1905 Rev Wilkes, the RHS Secretary and breeder of daffodils, is recorded as having said that such a stage of perfection had been reached that there was difficult to perceive further improvement and so there was little point in hybridisers continuing to breed daffodils. How wrong he was - many new and exciting daffodils have been bred since then - and, even today it would be a foolish man who would voice such a sentiment.
Objectives for breeder now are:
- Sun resistant red and pink cups
- Disease resistance - e.g. basal rot (many varieties are still prone to the disease)
- Consistency in exhibition plants
- New miniatures - limited range of colours available, at present very few with pink or red cups
- Short stemmed daffodils suitable for pot culture (to meet flat dwellers demands)
As with all breeders, Brian's family were livestock breeders - the mantra is the same for all animal and plant breeding - attempt to accentuate the good qualities and to eliminate the poor qualities.
Daffodils take five years from seed to reach flowering size and at least a further 10 years before a new cultivar can be introduced for sale.
Though it has been argued, there seems to be little difference in the influence of the seed or the pollen parents - each contributes equally to the new daffodil seedlings.
John Blanchard
Narcissus in the wild
There are 40 to 60 different species of daffodils (Narcissus and daffodil are two terms meaning the same, Narcissus being the botanical genus). Daffodil species are found over a very wide area, with Spain at the epi-centre, reaching out to Kashmir, Morocco and the Czech Republic.
There are 10 sections (if breeding takes place between sections 'mules' result, i.e. non-fertile progeny).
Daffodils found in the UK are Narcissus pseudonarcissus. Those found in Wales are known as the Tenby daffodil (Narcissus obvallaris).
Autumn-flowering Narcissus
Narcissus serotinus - Morocco
Narcissus miniatus
Narcissus x allenii (Narcissus viridiflorus x miniatus - discovered very recently
Narcissus tazetta Peleponnese - found in South France, Turkey and beyond, flowering in autumn through to spring
Narcissus papyraceus - paper white
Narcissus asturensis - smallest of the trumpet daffodils, needs acid soil
Narcissus moschatus - found at 6,000 feet in Spain in mid June
Narcissus nobilis leonensis - has huge flowers
Narcissus pallidifloris - Andorra
All red/orange/pink colours in modern cultivars comes from the narrow red margin of the coronas of Narcissus poeticus.
The last memorable slide of the talk was of Narcissus rupicola growing on the roadside near Madrid.
Richard Wilford
Tulips in the wild
The range of the genus Tulipa, with around 80 to 100 species, is approximately the same as Narcissus but whereas the latter has its epicentre in SW Europe, the centre of diversity for Tulipa is in the hills and mountains of Central Asia.
Tulipa sylvestris is a vigorous, stoloniferous species that has become naturalised in many areas of Europe. It was recorded from Bologna, in northern Italy in the 16th century but by the middle 18th century had reached Britain, and southern Scandinavia by the late 18th century. A southern European and North African form was originally named T. australis - now T. sylvestris subsp. australis. It is a smaller plant, with red staining on the outer petals instead of green. Other forms of T. sylvestris include T. celsiana and T. primulina and the range of T. sylvestris, in its broad sense, extends into Asia.
In south-east Europe the number of species begins to rise. For example, Mt Parnes, just north of Athens, is home to T. orphanidea, a, variable, orange-red species that also includes another Mt Parnes native, T. hageri and the beautiful, sturdy, dusky orange T. whittallii, from W Turkey.
On the high plains of Crete grows T. bakeri, with deep pink, yellow centred flowers. Similar is T. saxatilis, but this species comes from lower altitudes, often growing in gorges. Although cultivated forms are fairly distinct, in the wild the amount of variation means the two are not always easy to distinguish - this is often the case with wild tulips. Nowadays T. bakeri is usually included within T. saxatilis, which was the first to be named and so takes priority. The commonest form grown is T. saxatilis 'Lilac Wonder'.
Tulipa humilis is a well-known species from Turkey, the Middle East and Iran. It typically has pale purple flowers but can be very pale pink, reddish or deep pink, with a yellow or dark centre. The
most striking is T. humilis 'Albocaerulea-oculata', with white flowers that have a dark, inky-blue centre - first recorded from Iran. Also from Iran is T. montana. This has brilliant red flowers with yellow anthers. It grows in rocky places and on screes so like many tulip species, it needs free-draining soil. There are also yellow forms of this species, named var. chrysantha, and both colour forms often grow together. Tulipa sylvestris also reaches Iran, where it has been named T. biebersteiniana and is similar to T. australis.
Leaving Iran we approach the main home or heartland of the genus Tulipa, the mountains of the Tien Shan and Pamir Alai in Central Asia. This region was once known as Turkestan and has given its name to T. turkestanica, one of a complex group of species with white, yellow-centred flowers, known as section Biflores. Tulipa turkestanica can have up to 12 flowers per bulb. Another well-known multi-flowered species from Central Asia is T. praestans, which can have up to seven red blooms.
Three of the best-known species are Central Asian: T. kaufmanniana, T. fosteriana and T. greigii. These have been used for tulip breeding in Holland since the late 19th century and many hybrids are associated with these species. The wild forms are also very variable, as can be seen just by looking at the flower colours and patterns found in T. greigii.
Finally, T. clusiana is at the south-east limit of the genus, growing in the western Himalaya, but also reaching west to Iran. It has also become naturalised elsewhere, including Turkey and southern Europe. Various forms occur and this species, like the others I have mentioned, really sums up the genus as a whole: it is very variable, there are lots of names for the different forms and the boundaries of its range are blurred by its ability to become naturalised wherever conditions suit.
Slide list of tulips in the wild
Tulipa sylvestris flower (Europe)
Tulipa sylvestris colony
Tulipa sylvestris subsp. australis (S.Europe)
Mt Parnes (Greece)
Tulipa orphanidea (SE Europe)
Tulipa hageri
T. whittallii (W Turkey)
Lassithi Plain (Crete)
T. bakeri in field
T. bakeri
T. saxatilis
Imbros Gorge
T. saxatilis in cliff
T. bakeri 'Lilac Wonder'
T. humilis (Turkey-Iran)
T. humilis typical form
T. humilis in Iran - pale
T. humilis - dark flower
T. humilis 'Albocaerulea oculata'
T. montana (Iran)
T. montana in scree
T. montana in wild
T. montana yellow form, var chrysantha
T. montana - two colour forms
T. biebersteiniana in Iran
Mountains of Tien Shan
Fergana range (Central Asia)
T. turkestanica
T. praestans
T. kaufmanniana
T. fosteriana
T. greigii leaves
T. greigii flower shape
T. greigii red/black flower
T. greigii red/yellow/black flower
T. greigii yellow flower
T. clusiana (W Himalaya to Iran, naturalized in S Europe)
T. clusiana 'Lady Jane'
T. clusiana var. chrysantha