How do daffodils pollinated

Not all of them are beautiful so selecting needs to be done. The good-looking ones may stay; the rest end up in the hedge or on the roadside. During the next five years, sometimes even more, you keep on selecting, and only the ones that perform well year after year remain. For me the criteria for selection are, in the first place, a good-looking flower, but equally important is its garden performance.

I prefer the flowers to be well above the leaves and not too much down-facing, and they have to look healthy and vigorous. Sometimes I discharge a nicer flower compared to the others because the others just are better looking plants and better performers in the garden. Now after more than 10 years you finally might have a daffodil worth keeping, and you want to name her. This is a perfect place to check to see if the name you have in mind for your daffodil already exists. A name has to be unique, and already over 25, daffodils are named, so you might find it hard to come up with something original.

But once you find a name, you go the related links on the Daffseek site and they will forward you to the Royal Horticultural Society site RHS in the UK where the worldwide registration authority of daffodils is settled. But before you name a daffodil you might want to know what other people think of your seedling. Best thing to do is go to one of the many daffodil shows that are held each spring by numerous different daffodil societies throughout the United States. Everybody can enter flowers in these shows, and judges are present to evaulate your blooms and advise you.

When it is a good flower, you even might win a ribbon. If leaving a comment as "Anonymous," please leave your name or contact information. Home What is "Anthecology? I was displeased with the original article for a number of reasons, and that it could only be read by members of the PBS, so I decided to rewrite it here so it can be available to everyone.

I hope you enjoy it! The genus Narcissus is arguably one of the most iconic and recognizable insect pollinated plants in the world. Why purpose does the corona serve? Why are the anthers of some species tightly constricted in the floral tube while those of others protrude out past the cup?

Is there significance of pendant versus upward facing flowers? The answers to these questions and more can be clarified by illuminating some of the relationships between different groups of Narcissus and their natural pollinators. Most species are not self-compatible, and instead require insects to pollinate the flowers. After all, the purpose of any flower is sexual -- to propagate the species and to facilitate adaptation to changing conditions through gene flow.

For those not familiar with the genus Narcissus though I suspect most are quite familiar, perhaps enough to dislike them I can offer the following brief description: All Narcissus grow from true bulbs, underground storage organs composed of modified leaf scales.

The roots of Narcissus are contractile, meaning they pull the bulb to the optimal depth for the location therefore it is best to err on the shallow side when planting Narcissus bulbs rather than too deep, which can decrease flowering or kill the plant. Flowers are produced singly or in umbels of up to 20, depending on the type. With the exception of a few Autumn blooming species, Narcissus are mostly Winter or Spring blooming perennial bulbs from Portugal and Spain in the west, France in the north, southward into North Africa, and eastward into the Middle East.

While the exact natural range is subject to debate due to centuries of naturalization by ancient growers , the center of diversity for Narcissus is in the Iberian Peninsula. Species grow at many different altitudes, ranging from near sea level to over 8,Ft. Some require a cold period to flower, such as the large yellow trumpet daffodils so commonly grown, but there are many lowland species that grow well even in subtropical climates. Cold requirements transcend to the hybrids, which after all were bred from species of varying needs.

Typically the larger flowered hybrids need a chilling period while some of the small flowered hybrids with lineages including the species N. Most Narcissus bloom in late Winter or early Spring, often when weather is unpredictable and the sun is not guaranteed to show up every day. The few pollinators that are active at this time of year have to contend with the adverse and unpredictable weather conditions, and may not be able to leave their nests on days when weather is too poor.

Narcissus overcome this setback by having a relatively long bloom period of around two weeks, cooler temperatures apparently extending the bloom period compared with my observations of late blooming species such as N. The stigma remains receptive for most of the bloom period, while the anthers and pollen are subject to the elements.

If you will be pollinating multiple daffodils, dip the brush or tweezers in alcohol between plants to prevent contamination. Once the seed-producing parent has been pollinated, cover the flower again and mark it with a label containing the name of the parents and the date.

Allow the plant to produce a seed pod, and then harvest the seeds once that pod is dry. If you don't intend to breed your daffodils, it's best not to allow them to reproduce sexually. Like other plants that grow from bulbs, members of the Narcissus genus require time to develop a healthy bulb if they are to overwinter successfully and produce healthy flowers the following year.

The University of Missouri recommends snipping off spent blooms immediately after they wither to prevent seed production and encourage a stronger plant. Palmer is a freelance writer and illustrator living in Milwaukee, Wis. Wild daffodils are in the species Narcissus pseudonarcissus , if I recall.

Thanks Rusty for that maybe there is still hope. I will do some searches on that. Please let me know if you hear of a good supplier. Recently you had written something about someone wanting to make the flowers that you list as attractive to bees more computerised. I think that is what you meant anyway and in the new set up of the site I am still trying to find my way about so I cannot find that particular post as yet. He is based in America like you as well.

Could you and the person who suggested this in the first place work in some way together with Dave? He already has all the plants registered and computerised with pictures, habitat, which animals insects like or dislike them, hardiness zones etc. Getting to work with those people may save you mountains of work. Lindy also known as Mifanwyn. Thanks, Lindy. I will see what they have to say. I write an article in our small local paper re:nature in the public park.

This month will be about the choice of plants for the butterfly garden and why the flowers most people want in their yards are not the ones most attractive to insects. Sure, you may quote me, and thanks for asking. Also thank you for writing about pollinators. They need all the help they can get. Very interesting article. Thank you. I have been trying to plant pollinator friendly, neonic-free plants and bulbs for a while now. Last spring, very early, the daffodils were amongst the first to come up, when almost nothing was around, and they were being visited by the bees quite a lot, more than the couple of tulips that were also out.