18 KEY MINIATURE DAFFODILS
1 Narcissus ‘Starlit’
A cultivar bred by Brain Duncan with a flanged, pure-white trumpet. 15cm. 2 N. ‘Biondina’
Small, ivory-white flowers that have a slightly swept-back perianth and expanded corona. Bred by Anne. 15cm.
3 N. x litigiosus ‘Giselle’
A much-coveted, self-sown hybrid that was found by Anne.
It has an all-white corona and perianth, and is said to be easier to grow than other N. x litigiosus hybrids. 10cm.
4 N. ‘Little Dryad’
Named for Anne’s nursery, it has a cool, ivory-white flower with swept-back perianth, straight corona and flared mouth. 12cm.
5 N. ‘Cheeky Chappie’
A show winner with lemon-yellow corona and short, reflexed, white perianth. Bred by Brian Duncan. 10cm.
6 N. ‘Snipe’
A readily available, old cultivar with delicate, pale-yellow and white flowers with a straight corona and perianth that doesn’t fully reflex. 20cm.
7 N. ‘Peach Twist’
A new introduction from Anne, the creamy perianth is twisted like a pinwheel, and the frilled corona is a delicate shade of peach. 12cm. 8 N. ‘Wee Dote’
A Brian Duncan cultivar that opens bicoloured with a yellow corona and matures to pure white. It is a consistent show winner. 20cm.
9 N. ‘Sleek’
A striking daffodil with an upright habit, a pure-white perianth and lemoncoloured, flanged trumpet. Anne says its makes a superb pot plant. 15cm.
HOW TO GROW MINIATURE DAFFODILS
The miniature daffodil season starts in October and lasts through to April. Most miniature daffodils have a hardiness rating of RHS H4 to RHS H5, and are hardy outside in the UK if planted in the ground. However, if growing in pots, be careful not to allow the roots to freeze badly.
Anne grows her daffodils in both pots and raised beds. “If you want to plant in the garden, containers and raised beds are best, as slugs and miniatures don’t mix,” she says. The pots she uses are clay, plunged in damp sand in well-ventilated glasshouse, and allowed to become completely dry from May to September when she repots.
For pots Anne uses a 50:50 mix of perlite and potting compost, such as John Innes No.2 or No.3. She half fills the pots with the compost mix then adds a thin layer of coarse sand on to which she places the bulb, before covering it with more sand and then filling the pot with compost. There’s no extra fertiliser in the mix. She uses a half-strength tomato feed after flowering to build up the bulbs – but doesn’t deadhead, as she collects the seeds. Seedlings are repotted after two years, but all the rest of her bulbs are repotted every year.
For her raised beds Anne uses spent bulb compost, topped with a 20cm-layer of pure sand, top dressed with railway ballast.
She also creates mixed planters in large containers that she fills with spring flowers and bedding plants and then sinks a 9cm pot of miniature daffodils into the middle, so she can change cultivars throughout the season, dropping in a new one as the old one goes over. “This way I can have non-stop flowering from early January to the last week of April.”