Narcissus cyclamineus Tête Bouclée

The 'Tête Bouclée' Narcissus is a brand new double form of the excellent Tête-à-Tête narcissus, on the verge of winning over gardeners' hearts like its botanical parent did. Miniature and rather early, it produces numerous stems and a profusion of small pompom-like flowers in a bright lemon yellow, warmed by a more amber glow at the center. It is multiflorous, with each stem bearing 2 to 3 flowers. The foliage is not very abundant, and the flowering period is long-lasting. It is an easy plant to succeed in well-drained, hardy soil, which settles quietly in the garden. Dwarf varieties are ideal for ornamenting rockeries and garden pots.

The 'Tête Bouclée' Daffodil, recently introduced to the horticultural market, belongs to the amaryllis family. The Narcissus genus includes around 50 species found mainly in western Mediterranean, as well as in Africa and Asia. The cyclamineus species, from which it originates, is native to northwest Portugal and northwest Spain, and gets its name from its outwardly reflexed petals, like cyclamens. This characteristic is often greatly diminished in its hybrid descendants. This botanical species grows on generally non-calcareous, well-drained soils that never dry out in summer. Its direct descendants are excellent narcissus for humid climates in summer, but not adapted to prolonged summer drought, which causes them to quickly disappear.

The 'Tête Bouclée' Narcissus, closely related to this species, is a sport or double-flowered seedling of the Tête-à-Tête variety. It is a small vigorous plant that reaches about 12 cm (5in) in height for the foliage, 20 cm (8in) when flowering. Its slightly fragrant and discreetly bicolored flowers are composed of a corolla of slightly reflexed petals, a bright lemon yellow, on which a fairly short, very double corona is inserted, in a deeper yellow to orange. It is an early flowering plant, in March-April, which naturalizes itself in the garden within 3 or 4 years by producing small bulbils.

The 'Tête Bouclée' Narcissus is undemanding and grows well in well-drained and loosened soil. The results are less good in soils that are too wet in winter or too dry in summer. It prefers slightly acidic to neutral soils that remain moist. There is such a choice of varieties among narcissus that you can enjoy them for three months in spring without ever getting bored. They all naturalize easily, love yellow and white, and often emit sweet fragrances. Plenty of reasons to grow them in large clumps (at least 20 bulbs) for an intensified effect. Combine the 'Tête Bouclée' Daffodil in natural-looking flower beds and rockeries with squills, grape hyacinths, and hyacinths, accompany them with botanical tulips as well as forget-me-nots, pansies, or liverworts. It can be perfectly installed in a flowering or natural meadow, where easy annuals like love-in-a-mist and cosmos can be sown. In pots, this narcissus is also perfect.

Daffodil or Narcissus? Botanically speaking, daffodils are part of the narcissus family. They have flowers grouped in pairs or more, and their corona forms a campanulate trumpet that is longer than the corolla is wide. The botanical species have the charm of wild plants and thrive in rockeries: N.bulbocodium, N.canaliculatus, N.juncifolius, N.pseudonarcissus, the simple wood daffodil, are among the prettiest. For bouquets, we advise against mixing narcissus with other flowers, such as tulips in particular, as the stems of narcissus contain a substance that quickly causes other flowers to wilt. This detrimental effect on other flower species can be mitigated by dipping the ends of narcissus stems in warm water for 1 to 2 minutes.