Roland wrote:

Many years ago I bought bulbs of this plant from an importer that I
now suspect was selling wild-collected bulbs. Some years later, a
Dutch bulb grower visited my garden, saw it, and asked for bulbs
because he said it was an unusually good form. I sent them to him
that summer, but I don't know if the form ever entered commerce.
(Muscari muscarimi 'Frost', with the same history, has done so.) I
didn't know it was unusual, but it is larger than the forms I have
since grown from wild-collected seed. I brought the "good" form with
me when I moved recently, and it is still flourishing. It has been
perfectly hardy outdoors in temperatures down to about 12 F, growing
in rich soil in a raised bed designed mostly for ericaceous plants. I
won't offer seed of it to the PBS, though, because I grow so many
Narcissus in close proximity that any seed is likely to produce hybrids.

I seem to recall reading that f. albus is actually the more common
color form of N. triandrus, and the yellow form is more unusual to
find. The latter is a pleasing light, clear yellow, as I've grown it
from seed from the Archibalds. I don't have any experience with the
hybrids, but some were bred at Mitsch Nursery near my home, so they
should be hardy down to the mid-teens Fahrenheit.

This is just one more example of why it's important to keep growing a
variety of clones from wild populations, though now we know that
collected seeds are what we should use, not collected bulbs. We
should all do our best to support reputable and ethical seed
collectors. Chris Chadwell is still pursuing his longstanding
practice of selling shares in his expeditions (and I bought one
recently, hoping my efforts in helping arrange his US lecture tour
next spring will encourage him to treat me to some of the cream of
the crop, which has not always been the case for US investors).

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA

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