They may be dainty, but these AGM Narcissi punch well above their weight, says Graham Rice
H x S 25cm x 10cm F Mar-Apr
“A host of golden daffodils...” Well, gold,and yellow, and white, and pink, and orange, and bicolours; and large-flowered, medium and small; and tall, mid-height and short. The RHS has over 8,000 daffodil names in its database... where on earth do we start?
Well, let’s focus on the dwarf varieties. Every garden or patio or balcony or windowsill has room for daffodils that grow no taller than 35cm, and it so happens that back in the winter the RHS updated its list of dwarf daffodils that have been awarded the coveted Award of Garden Merit (AGM) – these are the very best.
It planted 70 different varieties side by side at its garden at Wisley, and convened a panel of amateur and professional experts to assess them. The very best performers were given the AGM. Some much-loved and well-known daffodils lost their existing awards, some relatively new varieties gained awards and an old favourite gained an award for the first time.
Of course, the award of an AGM to a variety means little if we have to scour the country just to find someone who sells it. So, out of the 27 varieties that were awarded the AGM, I’ve picked out five dwarf daffodil varieties – mostly relatively recent introductions but including one oldie – that were not only awarded the AGM for the first time but which also should not be hard to find and order for planting in October.
■ Position Happy in full sun or partial shade in rich but free-draining soil. All are rated RHS H6 (har
