Narcissus and Daffodil

Production of Narcissus bulbs 59
‘Tête-à-Tête’, a dwarf cultivar important as a scented pot-grown bulb and for
garden use. There have also been significant increases in the area of other more
specialist types (Tazetta, Jonquilla, Triandrus and species), while the area of
trumpet, large-cup and small-cup cultivars has declined, including once popular
cultivars such as ‘Golden Harvest’. Examination of the figures in Table 4.4 shows a
great increase in the number of different cultivars grown in the Netherlands, even
in cultivar groups of which the overall area is declining. This may indicate the
development of more discerning consumer tastes. In 1998, 488 cultivars were
listed (those cultivars grown by a single grower were excluded from these statistics),
of which the top five cultivars (‘Tête-à-Tête ’, ‘Carlton’, ‘Dutch Master’, ‘Ice
Follies’ and ‘Golden Harvest’) made up 51% of the total area (PT/BKD, 1999). In
the UK, one publication listed 35 cultivars as ‘important’ (ADAS, 1985a); the main
ones included ‘Golden Harvest’, ‘Dutch Master’, ‘Carlton’, ‘Fortune’, ‘Ice Follies’
and ‘Cheerfulness’. However, there is now a trend away from ‘Golden Harvest’
and ‘Carlton’, which are susceptible to base rot disease.
BULB PRODUCTION
As the UK and the Netherlands account for some 76% of the world area of fieldgrown
Narcissus bulbs, the information on bulb production methods in the present
chapter is largely derived from British and Dutch advisory material for bulb
growers. UK advisory material formerly included a range of booklets produced by
the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and MAFF’s former Agricultural
Development and Advisory Service (ADAS), in particular ADAS (1985a).
Dutch material includes the handbook produced by the Ministerie van Landbouw,
Natuurbeheer en Visserij (Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries)
with the Consulentschap in Algemene Dienst voor de Bloembollenteelt (General
Service Consultancy Unit for Flower-bulb Cultivation) (Langeslag, 1990). Neither
of these publications has been updated. Information quoted in this account without
specific reference citations is taken from these two publications. Other useful
accounts of commercial narcissus growing include: from the USA, NBGA (1957,
1961); from the Netherlands, Krabbendam and Baardse (1964); and, from the UK,
ADAS (1970) and MAFF (1984). In growing bulbs as ornamental crops, either the
bulbs or the flowers, or both, may be important, depending on local circumstances
and the economic situation. In growing bulbs for pharmaceutical or other industrial
uses, quite different considerations may apply, and it may be appropriate to
modify agricultural practices accordingly. More specialised protocols may be
needed, at least in the initial stages of bulking suitable stocks or screening cultivars
for potential use. On the other hand, where the aim is industrial processing,
flower production and the visual aspects of bulb quality may be unimportant.
Rees (1972) described the annual cycle of narcissus growth as characterised
by alternating periods of growth and quiescence, which enable the genus in its
natural, typically Mediterranean, habitat to condense its above-ground growth
into the relatively short period between cool winters and hot, dry summers. This
provides horticulturists with an annual opportunity to treat, grade and market the
bulbs during the ‘dormant’ summer period (during which there is, in fact, active
formation and growth of the young bulbs, shoots and root initials within the bulb).