Narcissus ‘States-General’ / ‘Staaten-Generaal’ 8W-Y/8W-W, 1827

Occasionally lightning strikes; and in this case, it was with an on-line exhibit courtesy of the Royal Horticultural Society. In a fabulous exhibition on daffodil hybridizing were images from the sketch book of the first Brit to systematically hybridize species Narcissus, Dean William Herbert. For whatever reason, in 1847 Herbert included a lovely rendering of States-General (and ‘Luna’) in his work on the species Crocus. The wide, shallow corona form, the yellow corona color, and the broad petals with a somewhat odd mucro form, combined with descriptions from both Henry Dreer (1896) and Peter Henderson (via A.M. Kirby, 1905) of the corona “fading” or “shading” to white, sealed the deal. Its earliest catalog listing is by E.H. Krelage in 1827, under its original Dutch name of “Staaten-Generaal.” Sold in American catalogs under a number of spelling variants until around 1904, its first documented American appearance (to date) was in the garden of Jacob Smith of Arkansas in 1858. A very tall plant, it blooms early winter season (first week of December). Unknown fertility. Collected from an old garden site in the Natchez, Mississippi area.

NOTE: The Sara Van Beck tazetta and paperwhite daffodils are generally not hardy in cold climates with freezing winters. In frost-free climates (zones 8-11) these bulbs may be safely planted outdoors in autumn for late winter flowers. In colder climates with freezing winters, they are easily grown indoors for flowers during the winter months. Learn more at www.heirloomtazettas.com.