Narcissus 'Grand Primo'

Paul Tyerman
Jun 6, 2002

Can anyone confirm that this white Jonquil IS 'The Pearl'? It has been difficult to track down a name for it. It sends up a second flower stem as the first is finishing. We end up getting 3 months worth of flowers from a couple of beds of these. It originally came from my wife's parents place, so it isn't knew. Grows and multiplies very well.

Paul Tyerman
Canberra, Australia
USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9

Jun 8, 2002
Paul,
This looks like what l get when Erlicheer reverts back to the single form, making it similar if not identical to, Grand Primo. Definitely it is not any form of White Pearl ("Pearl"), which would have a starker white perianth and a cup that opens much paler than this and soon fades to an equally pure white or very close to it. However, the rim of the cups seems to be more even and drawn in more than normally seen on Grand Primo.

Regarding Erlicheer, don't be misled by an old article in circulation from one of the RHS Daffodil Yearbooks from the 50's or early 60's, by a grower asserting that when a few of her Erlicheer reverted back to the single they were identical to White Pearl. Yes, they do indeed revert (say, 1 in 10,000), and l have seen it many times, but what she recognized to be White Pearl is actually Grand Primo, or something very similar to it.
A tendency to form secondary stems (or even third or fourth stems) derives from the depth of the bulb (not as many growing points created so each has more strength), heat and prolonged drought during the summer (the more baking the better, and dry soil conditions keep it from re-starting growth before the maximum number of stems and florets has been formed), and of course plant nutrition (especially potash) and adequate sunlight and water while in growth.

It would be interesting to know whether you grow Erlicheer, and if so does it have a similarly long blooming period? l am not fortunate enough here to get that long a production period from any one planting of any one variety.

Incidentally, your Soleil d'0r, like most in your country, seems accurate, however you might want to check that the stigma is located around the base of the upper anthers, perhaps a bit higher. Anything down the tube, especially recessed below the lower anthers, would be something different.

Up until the development of the modern hybrid daffodil 100 years ago, the main type of "daffodil" grown in Holland was the polyanthus ("many-flowered") narcissus, with 2-300 named varieties in cultivation at any given time, and an ongoing process of breeding took place, however all that was abandoned with the arrival of the more cold-hardy large hybrid daffodils. So all we have left now are the few remnants that can be found in old gardens or at abandoned homesites, along with a few (dating back to at least the 1790's) such as Grand Monarque, Grand Primo, Soleil d'0r, White Pearl and Double Roman, that are still offered commercially, especially in Australia.

Ideally a sample bulb or two sent to me for growing on is best for final identification. And if l don't know what it is, most likely no one else does either, as the majority of the knowledge from those days is lost, however the plant doesn't care one way or the other, it can still be used in hybridization or assigned a new name and re-introduced to cultivation.

Bill the Bulb Baron
William R.P. Welch
California

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