I was uncommonly late planting my bulbs this year and, in fact, have one small bag of antique-variety tulip bulbs left in the garage.\u00a0 If they were sentient, they would be wondering if they had been forgotten.\u00a0 Of course, if they were sentient, they would also know that guilt moves me like nothing else.\u00a0 I have no doubt that tomorrow morning, bright and early, guilt will propel me right out of the back door and into the garden with a trowel in my hand.<\/p>\n
| \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I always have a favorite plant, even if that plant is still only a dun-colored bulb.\u00a0 My favorite this fall is \u2018Rose of May\u2019, a white double daffodil that won\u2019t bloom until late next spring.\u00a0 Planting it always makes me think of a lovely poem, \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d, by seventeenth century English poet, Robert Herrick.\u00a0 The short work contains a verse that evokes the Christmas miracle and, in my mind at least, also defines the reason for planting spring-flowering bulbs during the darkening days of fall:<\/p>\n \u201cDark and dull night fly hence away!<\/p>\n And give the honour to this day<\/p>\n That sees December turn\u2019d to May.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Of course, every spring-blooming bulb that you plant turns December\u2014or September, October or November\u2014into May, but \u2018Rose of May\u2019 has the month in its name.\u00a0 It is not among the first flowers to bloom, but it also carries the scent of spring deep within its DNA.\u00a0 \u2018Rose of May\u2019 is a double narcissus, producing fluffy flowers that look a little like small white roses.\u00a0 When those blooms open, they exude a perfume that smells sweet and either rose or gardenia-like, depending on your nose.\u00a0 The plants are perfect for positioning along a walkway or close to places where people gather.\u00a0 Planted in drifts of three, five or seven, the fragrance will waft on the May breezes.<\/p>\n Now frequently classified as an heirloom variety, \u2018Rose of May\u2019 was introduced around 1950.\u00a0 It was bred in Northern Ireland by Guy Wilson\u20141885-1962\u2014who was originally bound for life working in his family\u2019s cloth-making business, but detoured into daffodils as a young man, making his first crosses in 1906.\u00a0 He never strayed from that path.<\/p>\n Wilson, who was introduced to white daffodils by his mother, quickly developed a passion for them.\u00a0 Towards the end of his career he wrote, \u201cWhite daffodils have always had a special fascination for me, and I have worked continuously on them since I began breeding.” Though he also produced varieties with yellow, orange and even pink trumpets or perianths, the breeder is best remembered today for white varieties like \u2018Rose of May\u2019, \u2018Broughshane’ and the exquisite trumpet daffodil, \u2018Empress of Ireland\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018Rose of May\u2019 came from a distinguished line of daffodils, some of which are still available today.\u00a0 Its seed parent was the result of a cross between \u2018Cushindell\u2019, a Wilson variety featuring white petals surrounding a yellow-green cup with a darker green \u201ceye\u201d, and \u2018Cantabile\u2019, with spice-scented flowers sporting white petals and a yellow-green cup with a thin red rim.\u00a0 Both are poeticus-type narcissus, characterized by small to medium white-petaled blooms, with small colored cups. \u2018Rose of May\u2019s pollen parent was \u2018Smyrna\u2019, a Scottish-bred poeticus narcissus, which also bears white, semi-double petals surrounding an orange-yellow cup with a thin red rim.\u00a0 How did that combination of plants produce a fully double, pure white variety?\u00a0 The secret recipe lies deep in the genetic soup, as deliberately stirred by Guy Wilson.<\/p>\n Like all daffodils, \u2018Rose of May\u2019 prefers to be planted six to eight inches deep in well-drained soil.\u00a0 A cool, sunny site will work well, especially if it has consistent moisture without being water-logged.\u00a0 All of that said, I find that this \u201crose\u201d is relatively undemanding.\u00a0 Because it flowers late, it may not be quite as successful under deciduous trees as some earlier-blooming varieties.<\/p>\n It is too late this year to order \u2018Rose of May\u2019, but make a note of it somewhere for ordering late next summer.\u00a0 This past fall the variety was available from several catalog\/online retailers, but offerings sometimes change from year to year, so a quick online search at ordering time will get you to the right merchant.<\/p>\n |