Orange Flowered Bulb Question
Diane Whitehead (Mon, 15 Mar 2004 17:17:38 PST)

In May, 1979 I was able to go to the Chelsea Flower Show (on
maternity leave, which is why I remember the date), and one vase of
daffodils in a display of hundreds rivetted my attention. The centre
was bright orange, which is common, but the outer petals were soft
orange, which I had never seen before. I remembered its name every
fall as I cruised the bulb boxes, Ambergate. It was never for sale. I
had assumed it was European, but eventually I found it was developed
by Grant Mitsch near Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. I visited his bulb
fields during bloom season, but the new daffodils were pinks and
reverse bicolours, and they no longer sold Ambergate. After a decade
or so, it finally became available among the Dutch bulbs, so I was
able to grow it.

I buy as many crocosmia as I can find. I brought a lot back from
England, and have tried hybridizing them, but so far no seedling has
equalled its parents.

My final orange is a lost-label kniphofia which keeps the
hummingbirds happy from midsummer till at least Christmas.

If you ask again some year, Mary Sue, I might be able to name a
favourite tulip. Last year I put a deer fence around the vegetable
garden, and planted tulips for the first time in a long while.
They're starting to bloom, but no orange ones are open yet.

--
Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8
cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually)
sandy soil