March 23, 2009

Daffodil or Narcissus or Jonquil or Buttercup?

Decided to take the time to find the names of all the daffodils that are beginning to appear in my yard and found the following: Daffodils Golden Ducat, Daffodils Dutch Master, Narcissus Carlton, Narcissus Tete-a-Tete, Narcissus Hollywood, Daffodils Split Corona, Narcissus Yellow/Orange Passion Blend. Then I got to wondering what the difference was between a daffodil, narcissus, jonquil and buttercup.

According to Rett Davis whose Gardening Q&A appears in The Burlington Times-News, "All of the above mentioned spring flowering bulbs are in the genus Narcissus. They are all classified and separated into 12 divisions. The division that each one is placed in is determined on the length of the corolla. The corolla is the flower tube. The corolla can be white, yellow, peach and bi-colors. The name daffodil and narcissus can be used interchangeably. Jonquils on the other hand have yellow flowers, a strong scent and the leaves are hollow. Daffodils and narcissus have flat leaves. The term jonquil should be applied to daffodils that are in Division 7 and 10. Buttercups are just another common name for daffodils. There are literally thousands of daffodil cultivars and they are our most dependable long lasting spring flowering bulb. Voles won't eat them because the bulbs are poisonous."

The Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum hybrid) also came out from under the snow over the weekend.


The Autumn Joy Stonecrop Sedum are barely visible, but a very welcome sight.



Remind me next fall to cut down the ornamental grasses and not be fooled into thinking they will provide winter interest to the landscape. We get too much snow for them to be interesting and I don't like cleaning them up in the spring.



Do any of you use the water-retaining crystals called Soil Moist? I have numerous hosta and astilbe growing near many of the big trees in our yard and think they'd do better if the tree roots didn't soak up all the water.

It's true what they say in this part of the country that March is the cruelest month, as evidenced by the mostly drab brown photos posted above. To make up for the lack of color, I'm including a picture of my son's birthday cake. P3 put the candles on it....all 41 of them. Also adding a photo of the b-day card. It took him a long time with the glue stick to make that border and I didn't have the heart to tell him birthday was spelled wrong. It's the thought that counts, right?









4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info - I guess I have jonquils in zone 7? Nice to see those little hen and their babes isn't. Regarding grass - I know *exactly* what you mean. I left a few... what a MESS! My favorite way to take em down, is to get out the electric edger and get them a quick hair cut. Looks like you have lots to keep your fingers dirty! ;0

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  2. Thanks for the conversation on daffodil, jonquil, etc. My friends and I were wondering the difference this weekend. I, too, have Autumn Joy. It is a great plant.

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  3. When I first saw your photos of the new growth, I thought "Hey, why don't we any growth yet". If she's in Wisconson and I'm in Michigan, we should be on similiar growth paths. But then I thought, have a really even looked, so this week-end I'm going to go out and find green signs of spring.

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  4. Love the card by P3! I do expect a private attachment of the one YOU make even if you don't want to feature it on your blog! Glad you're enjoying my art. Email me your address and I'll send you some inchies, and what you do with them after they arrive, makes no difference to me but, it's fun to see art close up.

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