In my newly acquired family, daffodils are a pretty big thing. The first year that I went to my in laws house I was shown a daffodil (in the greenhouse) that had flowered for the first time in over 30 years. It had been collected in some far away land- either Spain, Morroco, or France before I was even born! D’s father has been going on yearly trips to these places in search for the wild daffodils that grow on hillsides and in road ditches since D was a boy.
He breeds them, used to show them, and now judges others who show the breeds he created. It is interesting to think that without my father-in-law these two flowers would have never been around.
2 comments:
How can a plant only flower once in a 30-year time period?
It is dormant for some reason?
Good question, and something I would not have understood until I met this family. Basically it is still alive and will grow leaves but won't produce a flower unless the conditions are idea. Unlike the "ideal" of orchids (warm, moist, shaded yet sunny), daffodils are often found exposed on the sides of mountains with their bulbs half out of rocky soil. So sometimes it is a fluke if the English winter and spring can give the same effect as the Spanish spring.
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