# Some kind of strange daffodil, or what?



## Nancy_in_GA

It looks like a weird genetic mutation, but there are hundreds out on my mom's farm. Sorry for the fuzzy last picture. I can get a better one on Wednesday if necessary. This is the most it ever comes open. Not pretty at all.


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## bee

I think once it gets fully open you will find it to be a very double daffodil..I have one cluster on my place so old the house area has nothing left but the spring box and bits of glass and a few non-native stones....there was an apple tree that has died and an old lilac still throwing up whips.


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## Nancy_in_GA

Thanks bee. When some of them open up they are so busy and complicated they look more like carnations. Funny you mentioned it, but these popped up around an old home site on our property also. The house is long gone.


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## rockhound

It's a double daffodil. They make an ok cut flower. The stems are so long and lean if left outside they always topple over. Cut off half the stem and put in a short vase, they look good that way.


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## Nancy_in_GA

Well I just found a picture of supposedly a triple daffodil, and mine looks very much like this, except more scraggly. 

http://bottletreeantiques.com/images/dscn4113.jpg

And this is from Wikipedia: _"Breeders have developed some daffodils with double, triple, or ambiguously multiple rows and layers of segments, and several wild species also have known double variants."_

Mine predate any breeders, I think.


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## rockhound

I was using "double" to mean a multiple-layer of petals. It might be triple for all I know. I used to have some that were yellow and white, dug them up at an old burned-down house site in the 80's, don't know how old they were. There was only one small clump, plus many regular daffs. I kept them a few years and multiplied them but they always fell over, especially after rain or snow. I didn't dig them after the last move, just not worth it.


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## mammabooh

We have a lot of those around our house and barn. The house was built in 1902 and the barn in 1909. It think they are very cool!


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## RedDirt Cowgirl

I thought double daffodils destroyed the whole point of that flower - the unique trumpet - but I've come to accept them because they do make a great vase flower and they seem to have more scent that the "unsplit" ones. It makes a big difference if you cut the ends of the stems and put them in deep water until most of the slimey sap runs out, then cut them again before you put them in the vase. The more water convering the stem the longer they seem to last. I pick them just as the petals start to unfurl.

Some have sturdy petals that last longer than King Alfreds in the vase. And like iris, they withstand neglect, but don't thrive on it. Full sun, proper fertilizer, and making sure the foliage is well kept until it dries off will give stronger stems. I've seen them referred to as "Butterfly" daffodils - how nice is that!


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## kudzuvine

We call them "scrambled egg" daffodils - have them here in Mississippi. The ones I have came from an old home place. My bulbs I've had for over 30 years. Not very pretty but come up every year


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## goodhors

Think of them as Narcissus instead of Daffodil, so they are not going to always have a trumpet. Daffodils are in the Narcissus FAMILY, which has a great variety of flower shapes. Kind of funny, but mostly only Farm folks call them Daffodils these days, or only Daffodils if they have a long trumpet. All the other Garden folks call them Narcissis if they are selling bulbs or flowers.

I always buy bags of mixed bulbs, so my Daffodils and Narcissus have a great variety of shapes and colors in the flowers. Some have long trumpets, others short ones, some are totally white, others are mixed white, yellow, pink, with small or large collar petals.

I have a number of those shown in the photos, scattered around the place. With buying the mixed kinds, I get a LONG blooming period with all these various shapes of flowers and we enjoy looking and picking them. Plenty to give away too, after a couple years in the ground. They multiply beautifully, rabbits don't eat them either.

Maybe some fertilizer in late summer, will help stiffen up the stems a bit for windy days. Or just pick and enjoy them in the house. I cut off the dried up heads when flowers shrivel, to prevent them making seeds. That cutting puts the plant energy into the bulb for better blooming next year. 

I am sure you folks already know that Daffs/Narcissus of any sort, are not friendly mixed with other kinds of flowers like Tulips. They exude sap that will shorten the vase life of other kinds of flowers. So all my Daffodils and Narcissus are only put in vases together.
Cut them and enjoy them!!


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