198 DAFFODILS NARCISSUS 



DOUBLE ALL YELLOW TRUMPET DAFFODILS 



DOUBLE VAN SIGN. (B. 12 to 15 in. $ * 500 doz.) 

 This famous double yellow daffodil of old American gar- 

 dens is also very popular in Europe under the name of 

 "Wilmer's Double Golden Daffodil" and among the 

 more botanical as "N. telamonius plenus" it being the 

 doubled form of a single yellow large trumpet called 

 "Telamonius" in England and "Van Sion" in Holland. 



It is not only the most important of all doubles, but 

 probably the most important of all varieties, single or 

 double. It is planted by the millions annually. It is gen- 

 erally a reliable producer of large handsome double golden- 

 yellow flowers under varied cultural treatments, soils and 

 climates whether grown in garden borders, naturalised, 

 or "forced" in pots or "flats" for winter flower. 



Like its parents Double Van Sion varies in size, form, 

 and other characteristics accordingly as influenced by 

 environment. Years ago when there was less demand for 

 Double Van Sion, the growers of flowering bulbs propo- 

 gated and dessiminated their own types of "pedigree" 

 strains, and there was much rivalry among the growers 

 as to the merits of their respective stocks, some having 

 "rogued" to the unburst double trumpet type, others to the 

 "rose double" form, i. e. trumpet burst, its petals curving 

 backwards and intermingling with the perianth segments. 

 Between these two extremes were several intermediate 

 forms. But now no one grower seems to have a specialised 

 type, all seem to depend upon small "collected" bulbs, most 

 of which come from Asia Minor and Italy. These of 

 course are very variable in type of flower. The bulb 

 grower is supposed to plant and grow these collected 

 bulbs for a year or two to "tone and fatten them up" and 

 get the "green" out of the flowers. But every "rogue" 

 (a bulb producing an undesirable style of flower) that is 



