2 
Press Notices of Barr’s Gold Medal DafFodils, 1905. 
Extract from “ The Gardetier s Chronicle f continued, 
■' The Tulips arc not quite forward enough to be seen at their best, although several beds of 'English 
Tulips are now in flower ; while a collection of ' the flaunting red ' Duo van Thol was most conspicuous, although 
perhaps somewhat past their prime. Muscari ' Heavenly Blue' was observable from almost any position in the 
nursery, broad patches of it having been planted in various parts of the grounds. 
"We also noticed some fine forms of coloured Primroses, Irises, Polyanthus, Myosotis, Ornithogalum, 
etc." 
Extract from “The Daily Chronicle,” April 6th, 1905. 
“DAFFODILS’ ROMANCE. 
“ Rare Bulbs that Cost Fifty Guineas each. 
" Hearts that have the Wordsworthian faculty of dancing with the daffodils would be in their clement 
these days at Ditton Hill, Surbiton, the famous haunt sometimes called ‘ Barr's Paradise.' The beautiful new 
daffodils are now in bloom, and Surrey shows nothing more fascinating. It is a floral fairy-land. 
" A ‘ Daily Chronicle ' visitor who studied its radiance and daintiness yesterday was obliged to admit that 
the poets, despite all their enthusiasm for daffodils, have really done them but scant justice. They have 
conveyed no sense of the exquisite grades and charms of colour. 
“ But then the poets have not had the advantage of studying the wonderful varieties produced with infinite 
patience by the house of Barr, which to every connoisseur must always be associated with the romance of the 
development of the daffodil. 
“ Messrs. Barr, who are artists and poets in their sphere, are justly proud of their newer varieties: the 
magnificent Duke of Bedford, measuring four and a half inches across, with perianth pure white, clear soft 
yellow trumpet, and standing twenty-two inches high, the Salmonetta, with its prettily fluted cup of beautiful 
apricot shade, the 'Weardale Perfection, one of the grandest of all trumpet daffodils, and many more. The 
Admiral Togo and the Phil May are amongst the very new varieties. The Admiral is a strong grower and free 
bloomer. 
“ But, as Messrs. Barr point out, there are a number of varieties which, though known for some time to 
connoisseurs, are quite new or unknown to the great public. Ariadne, King Alfred, and many others might 
be instanced— even the Peter Barr, the King of while trumpet dagodils, selling at fifty guineas a bulb, is only 
famous after all within a comparatively small circle. 
" Of the marrying and giving in marriage of daffodils down Surbiton way, of the training of the young idea 
in the daffodil order, and all the experiments and colour triumphs, the Barr family have quite romantic records. 
" Many years ago, when Mr. Peter Barr began his work, florists mocked him. Who, they asked, could 
'make anything of wild and ordinary things like daffodils ? It was soon Mr. Barr's turn to laugh. 
" His daffodil quests in Spain, Portugal, and other distant spheres would alone make a delightful story. 
The tiniest of all daffodils he found in Spain eighteen years ago. 
" Messrs. Barr generously invite visitors to look in and see their floral wonderland (which is not far from 
Surbiton Station on the South-Western Railway). It is a kingdom of beauty whose annals and potentates are 
inexhaustible in their interest. Messrs. Barr believe that to advance the culture and the fame of flowers is to 
widen the gracious ways of civilisation." 
Extract from “The Mornin| Post,” April 10th, 1905. 
“DAFFODILS AT SURBITON. 
"There is no more beautiful scene at this time of the year than a bulb farm in Holland, but it is not 
necessary to spend a week-end at Haarlem or Leyden for the purpose of enjoying the beauties of spring-time. 
Within easy reach of the metropolis, Messrs. Barr's nurseries, between Surbiton and Thames Ditton, are just 
now ablaze with all the colours of the rainbow. Hyacinths and Tulips of every hue, Muscari of the deepest 
ultramarine. Primroses, and Anemones in varying tints, contrast with broad stretches of Narcissi in white and 
gold. Taking advantage of the sunshine, a number of flower-lovers visited the grounds on Saturday, and 
were shown round by Mr. William Barr. .At present and for a week to come the daffodil section of the 
narcissi family will be seen at its best, to be followed by the poeticus or " pheasant-eye" variety. But there 
are many intermediate kinds, the result of hybridisation, each with its particular merit or distinction in form or 
colour. The most striking varieties just now are the trumpet Daffodils, with huge vase-like centres varying 
from deepest golden-yellow to purest white. In the bicolor section the yellow trumpet standing out from a 
circle of white petals (called the perianth), of which ‘ Duke of Bedford ' is one of the finest examples, forms a 
most attractive feature. ‘ Madame de Graaff" is distinguished by trumpet and perianth being both white ; but 
the best white that has yet been raised is ' Peter Barr,' which created a sensation three years ago when it 
received the first-class certificate of the Royal Horticultural Society, and which is still rare enough to be priced 
at fifty guineas a bulb. One of the great charms of a visit to these gardens is the opportunity for comparison 
of the various sections, and of the study of the development of the large refined flowers of the present day 
from the insignificant Lent lily of our fields and hedgerows or the narcissus of the poets." 
Short Extract from “ The Saturday ReYiew,” April 29th, 1905. 
“VIGNETTES OF DAFFODILS. 
" The season of daffodils and narcissi is still with us— indeed, is but little on the decline. More than once 
in the pages of the Saturday Review, as spring returned, have we asked our readers to come out with us and 
wander amongst these adorable flowers in the long stretches of them that lie at Ditton Hill by Surbition. Even 
were they the same flowers year following year, who could ever weary of them ? But each season the patient 
and skilled gardener brings us new varieties to wonder on — yes, and these new varieties are each time many. 
Here arc half a dozen such gathered almost at random. But for the moment let them suffice. . . ." (Here 
follows a description of the daffodils most admired by the writer — King Alfred, Cleopatra, Loveliness, 
Cassandra, Agnes Harvey, and Elvira.) 
