Everything all at once: how pretty! I certainly envy you your rain, but the wheel of fortune turns. Enjoy your spring.

Thanks, Melissa - yes, the wheel of fortune certainly does turn! Our local Water Board is now getting criticism because all 6 of our local reservoirs have been spilling for weeks & weeks, and the rest of the water is, of course, flowing into the Ocean and Bay. 50% of the Board was replaced (all of the members whose terms were expiring) in our recent election, and at least the Board is now getting serious about desalinization, and building more storage for water, instead of just telling everyone to stop using it.

It is so luxurious to have so much rain. We managed to avoid any damage or real flooding - we were lucky. Now that it has not rained for over a week (!), the soil is finally able to get less than saturated. As I said, most of my roses are still hiding from the deluge and the freezing temps, but when I walked around most of them were waking up.

Jackie

P.S. Envy's not the right word. I'm glad California has gotten rain (though frequently too much of it). I just wish it would rain here as well.

Those daffodils are particularly pretty. What variety are they? Have you had them in your garden for a while? I'm always on the lookout for good perennializers.

Beautiful!

Melissa - I think those daffodils are Erlicheer (1934). I like them because they don't fall over in the rain (and this year is the best test!), and they come back here reliably - I have some places where they are still coming back from years & years ago, and they are wondrously fragrant.

Jackie

Aha, and thanks, Jackie. I've had 'Erlicheer' and it has tended to hang on. My last bulbs of it got shaded out. My experience confirms what you say about it.

This isn't the right forum for it, but I succumb to daffodil madness every spring (and peony passion, and lilac lust...).

Melissa - the one other type of daffodil which comes back relentlessly here in my garden is this one - I can't even remember the last time I planted any, but it was 10+ years ago, and it appears in pots and in the ground every Spring. I have also forgotten the name of it - oh well. Maybe someone on here will recognize it.

Jackie

Oooh, how lush! Your garden is beautiful, Jackie. I like the honeywort. It must reseed quite well?

Yes, it has reseeded every year - I have not planted any since the first year, which was about 10 years ago. It has crept into some nearby beds (by seeds, I presume), but since I love it I have let it do that. When it is finished blooming, it is very easy to just yank out - which is a good thing, because the stand of it in hte pic above is covering 2-3 small roses. They bloom nicely after we take the cerinthe off of them, so no problem.

Jackie

(Going over the edge here:) Jackie, I don't recognize your other daffodil, but would certainly like to know what it is. Common feral daffodils in my area are forms of what I think are Narcissus pseudonarcissus, running to two main types, one smaller and earlier than the other, and with a slightly proportionally longer trumpet, both all yellow; and what looks like the old double 'Van Sion'. Poet's narcissus grows wild but is uncommon, but last spring I saw substantial plantings of it in two yards, both blooming like mad. I planted it down in the woods, where it increases but doesn't flower. For garden types, 'Thalia', an old white Triandrus kind, is wonderful, durable and beautiful; and I have an elegant narcissus I planted years ago that I suspect is 'Aircastle', that has increased and been lovely in really bad soil. Others I have at least some success with: Jonquil 'Sweetness'; an old favorite; 'Palmares', the only split trumpet daffodil I like; 'February Gold' and 'Jetfire', both Cyclamineous hybrids; little 'Hawera', another Triandrus; and one that's been lasting and increasing for a few years that I think is 'Sailboat'. In conditions like mine, where the soil is so poor, very heavy, blasted by drought in the summer, it's hard to know whether a variety is done in by its own unsuitability or by unmanageable conditions. I used to think daffodils were an impossible dream for me, like magnolias, but I've gotten more optimistic.

P.S. Actually, it's possible that I may have your mystery daffodil. I found a clump of feral daffodils last year that looked similar; dug a few and planted them along with my larger feral Pseudonarcissus type, as I had seen done in a nearby garden (always ready to steal a good idea). Not much bloom this year so I don't have a good picture of the variety in my head, but if I remember right it was a two-toned yellow with a small cup, fairly tall.

I found an older pic of the same daffodils - they show an orange cup, which then turns yellow. I found a pic on the internet which looked like them - it was "paperwhite narcissus Grand Soleil d"Or", and that name does sound familiar.

I have planted so many many daffodils over the years, but lately I only plant more of the ones which come back every year. I have the normal "paperwhite" narcissus too, which grows outside in our climate, although it tends to get crowded more quickly, and has to be dug up and separated (we had our gardeners do that in one place 3 weeks ago, after a few of them had finished blooming, and the rest were never going to bloom). They filled up 2 garbage cans!

here are mine showing an initial orange cup:

Jackie

Oooooh...thanks for the information. I've had the tazettas on my mind for a while, as my sister continues strongly to recommend 'Avalanche'. But I have to find the right place to put them. I still don't trust the big garden to be a friendly enough environment for narcissus, though a few have held out there.

We are in zone 9b tending towards 10a lately, and all of my daffodils are in full sun. That is probably why the paperwhite/tazettas do well in the ground out of doors here.

HA! This conversation has given me an idea - we had to remove all of the climbing roses off of our house, which left a flower bed about 50 ft long and 6 ft wide. There are still some short shrub roses there, but maybe I will plant tazetta daffodils there too - nearer the 3 stories of the South facing wall of the house, which makes it the warmest place in our garden. Luckily I have a pile of plant catalogues I have not yet put in the recycling - a new fun chore to do today, instead of the boring ones on my TO DO list!

Jackie

Really beautiful photos!

The perfume of daffodils is to me the very scent of spring!!!