Australian Daffodils

Australian Daffodils

Australian daffodil breeder lists quickly show that Victoria, and Tasmania in particular, have long histories in daffodil breeding. It is a history that is comparable to English breeding for the last 100 years, with Australian breeders being amongst the world's leaders. Some still are.

It is not surprising, therefore, that Australia's leading daffodil breeding regions have a climate much like those of the British Isles including Ireland. However, ourside of Victoria, and Tasmania, there is little history of Australian daffodils and it's daffodil breeders, which often costs them internationally. Other areas within Australia are still to set their own breeding agendas for daffodils.

In that past 100 years, Australia was one of the pre-eminent daffodil breeding countries but future prospects are not so bright. Australia has a quarantine measures that makes bringing in bulbs from international sources to be very expensive, and the flow of breeding stock has been greatly inhibited, or, in other words a serious hindrance in increasing the gene pool. At the same time, flow of breeding material out of the country has increased. It is reported that Australia's breeding industry is having a hard time in acceptance of their 100 year history of importation strangled the way it has been.

Sydney The earliest daffodil breeding efforts in the Sydney with it's hotter, dry conditions. Sydney is ideal for the division 8 tazetta flowers, but sterility problems made progress impossible. Recent knowledge has enable breeders to revisit this division but there is little sign of interest. Successful breeding in divisions 1-3 continues and some progress has been made.

Tasmania is and has been a powerhouse of daffodil breeding, due to the three generations of Jacksons, and the Radcliffs along with many others. Tasmanian hybridizers have named many flowers and are always releasing new hybridized flowers each year. An excellent link to a web site that can give you some idea of Tasmania's devotion to daffodils is the Tasmania Daffodil Pages.

I feature a later article on the reverse bicolor daffodils, and feel it's important to discuss one of man's true creation. The first of the reverse bicolors created by man, 'Binkie' was introduced by W.W. Wolfhagen, of Tasmania. 'Binkie' 2Y-W, is a famous flower, the first reverse bicolor apart from N. triandrus var. pulchellus. However, there is some trouble in giving Wofhagen credit for 'Binkie'. It is said that the seed that produced 'Binkie' originated from seed sent by Guy Wilson (Northern Ireland), to Wolfhagen. Guy Wilson was the second person to name a reverse bi-color flower, even if it was some years later. Wilson did not claim 'Binkie' as his own, yet the official register gives Wilson as the joint hybridizer. In comparison, at the same time, 'Pops Legacy' was raised by W. Bender (U.S.A.) from Phil Phillips' seed. However, Phil Phillips (NZ) is not listed as the joint hybridizer. In the years to come, the attachment of Wolfhagen's name to 'Binkie' may be totally left out.

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