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Name that Daffodil!

© Mary Lou Gripshover

What's in a name? Have you ever wondered how daffodils get their names? If you're a daffodil breeder and hope some of your daffodils might someday see the world beyond your garden, you should register your chosen name with the International Registrar. For daffodils, that would be the Royal Horticultural Society in England, though national daffodil societies usually accept the forms and forward them to the RHS as a service to their members. You would have to follow the conventions set out in the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. This covers the length of the name, similarity to previously registered names, etc. You cannot use a name that has been registered previously, even if the cultivar may no longer exist.

So, you've followed all the rules and you're ready to name your wonderful new daffodil! What now? What have others done? Many breeders have named their daffodils after place names. In fact, it's often been said that it was nice of the Irish to name so many of their towns after daffodils! Or is the other way round? 'Limerick,' 'Galway,' 'Downpatrick,' 'Newcastle,' 'Sligo' and 'Portrush' have all given their names to daffodils. The late Guy Wilson, famous for his white daffodils, named one for his home village, 'Broughshane,' and two of his best the 'Empress of Ireland' and 'Ulster Queen.' Lionel Richardson, a friend and competitor of Guy's, named some of his for race horses, especially Derby winners. Thus we have 'Red Rum.' The British raiser John Lea, famed for his red and yellow daffodils, gave us a series of barely pronounceable names from his favorite salmon-fishing areas in Scotland: 'Suisgill,' 'Cairn Toul,' 'Creagh Dubh,' 'Dalhauine,' and 'Loch Owskeich,' to name but a few.

Other raisers seem to favor certain categories for certain types of daffodils. Brian Duncan, in Northern Ireland, has a series of pink and white doubles named for hotels including 'Dorchester,' 'Waldorf Astoria,' (pictured) 'Grosvenor,' and 'Swallow Hotel.'

Mr. Duncan also has a series of white daffodils named for famous golf courses: 'Muirfield,' 'Troon,' and 'Birkdale.' His daffodil names also reflect places he has visited, including 'Pismo Beach,' 'Zion Canyon,' 'Masai Mara,' and 'Chapman's Peak.' And he has a series of orange-petalled flowers which he named 'Bossa Nova,' 'Charleston,' and 'Limbo.' Doesn't that make you want to dance??

Max Hamilton in New Zealand has also used place names, and includes "Kiwi" as part of the name of his double daffodils: 'Kiwi Sunset,' 'Kiwi Magic,' and 'Kiwi Solstice.' His daffodil partner, Peter Ramsay, likes to include the word "Cameo" in his names, and so we have 'Cameo King,' 'Cameo Rim,' and 'Cameo Angel.'

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