This morning I fell in love with a perfect lady. No I am not about to pop the question, it was that the first flowers on some of the new daffs, planted last autumn finally opened. I have always been a fan of pink daffodils, even when the earlier cultivars were really only just salmon pink rather than true pinks. Some of them also opened pale yellow and only slowly developed their pink colouring as they matured – such as ‘Salome’. I didn’t mind this at all but it could have been a disappointment for some, especially the impatient. Pinks have become more affordable and pinker over the decades. And it is all very well for a flower to have a pink cup or trumpet but if the flower is not a good shape or the tepals are a bad shape or not a good white (there are some with yellow tepals now as well) then the flower is possibly not worth growing.

The most famous pink daffodil is probably ‘Mrs R O Backhouse’ and some catalogues list it as ‘new’ even though it was registered in 1921! Although a pretty flower it has thin substance and is only just pink and looks a tatty thing compared to the best of today’s pink daffs. It has a place though and in informal settings it is better than modern cultivars.

Pink trumpet daffs are still rare but small or large cupped are easily available now and although they are not usually cheap they are a good investment.

So what is so good about ‘Perfect Lady’? Well let me introduce her.

Has your heart skipped a beat?

Pristine tepals of good substance and form are the perfect background to the ruffled cup of watermelon pink. The green eye in the back of the flower is a perfect contrast. The stems are strong, and the foliage a good blue-green. The blooms have a little scent but I would not say it is a frgarant daff really. In the 2006 RHS trial this did not get an AGM but that may have been because it does not give as much ‘oomph’ in the garden as simpler-coloured flowers and each bulb only produces one flower per bulb unlike some others that produce a second, smaller bloom as the first ages. Who knows?

I will have to see how it does in the second year but it has been love at first sight. I have planted it in grass but really it needs to be picked to appreciate its beauty so I would plant this in the border or the cutting garden if I was you! Make a note in your diary to order this one this autumn!

Just as lovely in profile. ‘Perfect Lady’ was bred by W. van Lierop & Zn. B.V. in The Netherlands but I have not been able to establish the date of introduction.

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