gardens

The daffodil ‘reigns in supreme majesty over all spring
flowers’, and the popularity it enjoys today ‘is the
inheritance of centuries’. Thus wrote daffodil expert
Michael Jefferson-Brown at the beginning of his 1969
book Daffodils and Narcissi, a work of great
scholarship that continues to benefit professional and amateur
gardeners alike. Among others, E. A. Bowles also wrote extensively
and lovingly about the genus, adding weight and meaning to the
copious poetic lines that have extolled this universally loved ‘golden
flower’ in Western literature.
Ron Scamp’s name came my way several years ago in discussion
with Sally Kington, the Royal Horticultural Society’s then daffodil
registrar. My northwest corner of Herefordshire experienced some
daffodil fame in Edwardian times, a legacy that encouraged Sally
to come and look around, and give a talk to a group of fellow
enthusiasts at a moment, a few years ago, when I was considering
a chronological planting
of species and cultivars in
my infant arboretum.
Ron Scamp, she assured
me, would be most
helpful in my venture. Sadly, the idea came to naught, although
a heap of bulb catalogues and internet printouts in a corner of my
study testify to my occasional researches into suitable old varieties.
Ron, whose family grew daffodils for the bulb and cut-flower trade
professionally in the Tamar Valley, is a Cornishman with his
own long-held interest in the genus narcissus. His uncle and mentor
was Dan du Plessis; one of four dynamic Cornish growers
who, according to Andrew Tompsett - author of Golden Harvest,
a fascinating and detailed history of daffodil growing
in Cornwall - had an irrepressible interest in daffodils in the
second half of the 20th century.
Ron was a lifelong amateur, only turning his hobby into a
business in 1991. Now approaching his 70th birthday, he is
‘winding down’, and his son Adrian will continue the business that
currently raises stock on a 12-acre site near Falmouth.
Ron grows daffodils in all 13 divisions - trumpet, double, largecupped
etc - classified by the Royal Horticultural Society. He has
a great passion for what he calls ‘yesterday’s daffodils’, the historical
varieties, currently listing almost 50 of them, including personal
favourite ‘White Lady’, bred before 1898, which is a small-cupped
cultivar with white petals and a shallow pale-yellow trumpet. Old
varieties, some of which may be natural hybrids, still continue to
be found, and the happy hunting grounds are usually undisturbed
hedgerows, churchyards and old family estates. Their names may
be lost, but can sometimes be reinstated with careful research.
When it comes to breeding new varieties, Ron (recipient of the
Reginald Cory Cup for plant hybridisation and ‘still dabbling a
bit with pollen’) aims for plants with strength, vigour and good
form that are both disease and weather resistant. He largely
avoids the use of old varieties in his breeding programme,
believing there isn’t much that could be considered new that
hasn’t already emerged in previous crosses. A new variety can take
up to 10 years from seed to commercial introduction. Four to
five years are needed for the seed to develop a flowering-sized
bulb, which then needs to
Of his many daffodil-breeding successes, Ron is
most proud of double-flowered ‘Madam Speaker’
hort’s desire: daffodils
SPARKLING
SIRENS
OF SPRING
David Wheeler meets a man who has turned a lifelong love
of daffodils into an award-winning online business
PHOTOGRAPH JASON INGRAM
be grown on for several
years to see permanence
of habit and colour.
Chosen newcomers then
go into production. The yield can as much as double every year.
Of his many daffodil-breeding successes, Ron is most proud of
double-flowered ‘Madam Speaker’, named after Betty Boothroyd,
speaker in the House of Commons from 1992 to 2000. He describes
it as being ‘as robust as the lady, stands up well to the elements and
admired by all who see it; and a first-rate flower of show quality’.
The future? ‘My dream daffodil would have white petals and a
truly red cup,’ he says. ‘I’m almost there, having one with white
petals and dark pink cup; but dark pink is not red. I’m also
interested in green-flowered daffodils or ones with white petals and
dark green cups or trumpets.’ Time will tell…
Finally, and looking for a few good names to add to my
own modest collection, Ron unhesitatingly rattles off ‘Max’,
‘Cape Cornwall’ and ‘Menehay’ - names to remember when his
2013 catalogue goes online.
R. A. Scamp Quality Daffodils sells bulbs by mail order. For more details and
to order, go to www.qualitydaffodils.com or call +44 (0)1326 317959.
February 2013 the english garden 97