Daffodils pt. 2- jonquils

Narcissus jonquilla. Cillas. Wikimedia commons.

What can one say about jonquils without quoting many a poet? This is a plant known wide and far in literary circles, and can anyone blame poets for not writing such sundries about it? Jonquils are a florists treat in early spring, and the nose’s road to paradise. While they are native to Southwestern Europe, they have naturalized in temperate areas the world over, and don many the winter and spring garden. They are not as well represented in gardens as their larger brother the daffodil, but I daresay they ought to be considering their fragrance.

Jonquils and their allies, the tazetta and poet’s daffodils; are small cupped- i.e. the corolla of the daffodil (the cup) is smaller than the larger daffodil (N. pseudonarcissus), and the flowers themselves are smaller. They grow much like daffodils, but the fragrance is much more pronounced in the smaller flowers than in the larger ones, and with a much sweeter note. The small cupped daffodils of the jonquilla and poeticus tribe are used to make essential oils for perfume production in France- it is said the scent is a combination of jasmine and hyacinth, which I find to be fairly accurate according to my personal sense of smell.

Narcissus poeticus ‘Recurvus’. Meneerke bloem. Wikimedia commons.

In terms of looks, the poeticus group is the most visually stunning of the small cups, with a tint of red in the cup compared to yellows, whites, and oranges of the others.They have a scent much like jonquils, but are more visually appealing for the garden in my opinion.  A hybrid between the tazettas (Paperwhites) and poeticus group exists called N. x medioluteus, which lacks the red tint, but does have a superb fragrance that is not as musky as paperwhites.

Filoli Gardens, in the Bay region of California, has a European style Narcissus field full of the many species listed between yesterday and today, and to catch the garden in full bloom is a delight beyond compare. The very air seems to glow with the scent and pollen of the thousands of Narcissus flowers, and the sweet Musk is truly that which is beyond compare. I was lucky to see this field in 2010 and my nose has not let me forget even after these 4 years. I would give anything to bask in the fragrance of a field of jonquils and Daffodils again! The delight to the nose is second to that of a pergola of Jasmine, and just ahead of a grouping of Ylang ylang in my mind. One note of mention, certain Narcissus are only fragrant by day, while others grow in intensity by evening. Jonquils and poeticas tend to increase towards evening, but Daffodils are paperwhites are all but scentless by sundown. Then again it is too early in the year for night fragrant gardens, but I still do find it a small inconvenience for the average working person.

Well I don’t know how the next few days will shake up in my world between the travels I plan on taking in the next few days, but if I get to them- I plan to cover Mahonia, and spring flowering Magnolia before jumping into the April bulbs.

The many many Narcissus

Daffodil field in South East Cornwall. Mark Robinson. Wikimedia Commons.

Daffodils are quite the common sight this time of year in the Southeast US and warmer parts of Europe (where they originate). Winter being unusually prolonged this year has halted the majority blooms from opening up until April here, which is rather unusual even for cold years as they are the first large bulbs to bloom reliably each year.The fragrance is the mid-spring fragrance I associate with spring finally having come to my part of the world, with a sweet, musky, and earthy olfactory trinity. The flowers are easy to grow and care for for the most part, and I’ve seen them growing in even the worst types of soil and still blooming reliably.

Narcissus pseudonarcissus. Johnathan J. Stegeman. Wikimedia commons.

There are so many different types and species, that the easiest way for me to talk about them is for me to split them myself between the large cupped and small cupped species. There does exist a list of horticultural divisions of the species- check the wikipedia page for info. For the large-cupped species, the most common garden ones are N. psuedonarcissus– native to Western Europe, and growing in woodlands and crags all over the continent, wild or not. They are called wild daffodils for this reason, and lenten lilies due to their bloom period coinciding with Lent. These particular plants also last so long in the garden that one would think them native to old estates in the US as well, where a certain planting could easily be over 50 to 100 years old, surviving from the bulbs and their propagules planted so long ago.

There are many subspecies and hybrids to choose from, and they all share the characteristic earthy sweet scent with a fine musk, that even perfumes the air when grown in clusters. They come mostly in yellow and white and last for a couple weeks usually before burning out and being replaced by other bulbs.

Narcissus minor var. conspicuus. Daniel Mosquin. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca

N. minor is the other main large-bulbed daffodil grown, and has a fragrance unlike its brother N. psuedonarcissus that is much more variable depending on the cultivar. Wilder makes note of this in The Fragrant Path, and talks about different species being scented like vanilla, magnolia, cowslips, or musk. I certainly can see all of these and have smelled enough to agree myself with this. These are often the grocery store daffodil bulbs, as they are a tad bit smaller and sweeter than N. psuedonarcissus, but not any less dazzling in the garden! Tomorrow (hopefully) I will get to the jonquils, as they are sweeter than their larger brothers. I would be remiss if March went by and I didn’t talk about them!