Expert Tips for Growing and Preserving Rare Daffodils in East Yorkshire

Ramsbottom was honoured for his work in developing a hot water treatment against eelworms which has saved the daffodils. The worms cause the bulbs to lose their roots and the hot water treatment of 43 degrees centigrade kills the worms and not the bulbs. The worm is still a pest today, and this method is still used in the bulb industry.

The RHS has asked the public to record where they find daffodils blooming and send the sightings to contribute to their Daffodil Diaries. There are in excess of 31,000 known varieties of daffodil, and the RHS is keen to preserve this diversity for the future. It needs our help in locating three particularly rare daffodils – Narcissus Mrs R O Backhouse, one of the first pink daffodils with a coral pink trumpet and ivory flowers; N. Mrs William Copeland, a white double-flower variety; and N. Sussex Bonfire, a double-flowered yellow and orange variety.

Should you be lucky enough to own one of these daffodils you are asked to dig it up after flowering this year and send it to the RHS for them to grow at its research facility at Wisley. If your bulb is assessed to be one of these rarities you will be invited to donate it to the daffodil breeder Scamps Daffodils with the hope that it can be bred and brought back into widespread cultivation.