Rain continues to fall and looks to continue all week, so the daffodils continue to cheer.

‘Love You More’ (2 W-W) seems to be unregistered but is my favourite white daffodil in the garden. Large-cupped rather than a trumpet daffodil, it is a sturdy flower and blooms about two weeks earlier than ‘Mount Hood’ which is the standard (although old) white daff. It is pure white with a greenish centre and although the petals are a bit creased and twisted it is elegant and delightful. The cup is only just shorter than the petals so is almost a ‘trumpet’ (Division 1). It has not increased much but that is not always a bad thing in the garden because it means it doesn’t need frequent division.

‘Plymouth Hoe’ (Ron Scamp 2012 1 Y-R) is a true trumpet daff with smooth flowers and a really fine, expanded trumpet that stands out in the garden. Even so, I think the classification of the trumpet being red is a bit of an exaggeration.

‘Pemboa’ (Ron Scamp 2003 1 W-Y) is a smooth flower of simple and refreshing colouring. A lot of two-coloured daffodils have colours that seep into the petals and while these are fine in the garden I do prefer these crisp, fresh flowers.

And that trumpet is perfectly shaped.

Split-corona daffodils can be pretty but they can also be rather ugly and novelties rather than beautiful.

‘Slice of Life’ (Van der Week 202 11a Y-O) avoids being ugly by having one or two small blooms per stem. The flowers have rather thin-textured petals that are rolled-in at the edges and enhanced by a ridiculously frilled flat cup. It has proved a really good garden plant and has increased well and the foliage and flower scapes are slender and green – rather than the more typical greyish green. It is a lovely plant for the garden and for cutting and the flowers are moderately scented.

‘Porthchapel’ (pre 1953 7 Y-O) is grown for scent, being a jonquil. The foliage is narrow too and the clump produces lots of stems although they mostly have just one bloom, while they potentially could have up to three, and should have two, being a jonquil. Tall, slender and scented is a feature of jonquils and is not lost on this, unusually colourful variety.

narcissus love you more, narcissus pemboa, narcissus plymouth hoe, narcissus porthchapel, narcissus slice of life