Narcissus pachybolbus and other tazettas
Jim McKenney (Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:36:30 PDT)

Jane McGary wrote: “I grew it in the bulb frame for many years but have now
found

that it's hardy outdoors here in western Oregon, with typical winter

temperatures in the mid-teens F.”

Narcissus pachybolbus (my start came from Jane) has grown well here in my
protected cold frame. I look forward to the sweetly scented flowers in mid
winter; and in common with those of the commercially available tazetta
forms, the flowers last and last in the cold frame. Tazettas have been known
to remain in bloom here for three weeks – and that (and their marvelous
scent) to me makes them worth the space they take in the frame.

Except that the flowers are a bit smaller, N. pachybolbus looks a lot like a
paperwhite narcissus from about a foot away. So far it seems to come into
bloom a bit sooner than ‘Ziva’, which is grown here in the same frame.

Jane, when do your plants in the open garden bloom? I’m tempted to try a
bulb in the open ground, but February (and March too in some years) here can
be very rough on anything at all tender.

The members of the tazetta group sometimes survive a winter or two here in
the open garden, but because they start into growth so early, the foliage is
cut badly each year – and it isn’t long before they are reduced to nothing.

Jim McKenney

jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com

Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone
7

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