Narcissus cyclamineus
As gardeners we can't help being delighted by the bright yellow splashes of early narcissus colour in the open garden, Among the earliest to show is Narcissus cyclamineus, from Northern Spain and Portugal, and now rare in the wild but popular in gardens worldwide.
The highly reflexed petals that sweep back from the yellow trumpet make it unmistakeable. Hardy, it's well suited to loamy acid soils in sun to light shade but it's preferred environment is thin grassland and woodland edge habitats. At The Garden House, where these photos were taken, it's naturalising on some of the grassy banks in the Acer glade and in the good drainage of the Bulb meadow.
Like snowdrops, it prefers to be planted 'in the green' and then left untouched to spread by seed rather than the production of offsets. If it likes you - and the moist maritime climate of South West England certainly suits - it can be quite prolific.
Parent to many early flowering hybrids - 'Jack Snipe', 'Tete a Tete', 'Jetfire' and many others - the reflexed petals are certainly in evidence among its offspring although none have the full swept back appearence of this delightful little spring bulb.
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