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Paperwhites turned yellow?

pam3pam3 Posts: 5
in Plants

Hi. I grew Paperwhite indoor daffs last year. I kept them dry in their pots then started to water a few weeks ago. I now have lovely yellow, multiheaded, beautifully scented daffs. Anyone else experienced this change?  I've never seen or heard of it before. Bulbs producing different colour flowers in subsequent years?  Love to hear from anyone who knows what's going on!  Thanks. Pam Sharrock. 

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190

    As no one has answered, I’ll have a go but could be wrong.  I understood that Paperwhites don’t flower again after the first year, so if yours have, maybe they have reverted to the wild variety that they originally were? 

    I don’t suppose you could have muddled them up with some other bulbs you had? 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254

    I have a number of  Narcissus Tazetta ‘Paperwhite Ziva’ planted in my garden in autumn of 2015. In spring 2016 they all flowered white, as expected. In spring 2017 they flowered white again except for one specimen, which was yellow. At the moment half of them are in flower, all white so far.

    There is controversy re the scent of those flowers. I personally find their scent overpowering to the point of being unpleasant.image

    See http://www.rezeau.org/wp-garden/en/narcissus-tazetta-paperwhite-ziva-2/

    Last edited: 21 January 2018 23:08:21

  • pam3pam3 Posts: 5

    Thanks Lyn. That's what I thought , but decided to give it a go. I'm certain I haven't mixed up the bulbs as they were left in the pots with labels from the previous year. I didn't know they could revert? 

    Thanks Papi Jo. I've only ever grown paper whites indoors. Yes the scent is overpowering and can be unpleasant. But the yellow flowers this year are a lovely scent like a jonquil. 

    Does anyone know if bulbs can revert to a wild variety?

  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254

    Hi Pam3

    Maybe Narcissus Tazetta ‘Paperwhite Ziva’ is a hybrid of Narcissus papyraceus (all white) and Narcissus tazetta (white outside and yellow/orange inside).

    See http://botanyboy.org/narcissus-tazetta-japans-paperwhite/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_papyraceus for more info.

    After a certain number of cultivation, it's possible that some specimens revert to one of their original parents. Here are some photos of my narcissus, showing the differences.

    image

    "normal" flowers

    image

    "abnormal" flowers on one specimen in second year of flowering

    PS. Do you have pics of your narcissus?

  • pam3pam3 Posts: 5

    image

    sorry. Struggling to get picture. Hope you can see from this if you expand it.  Your pics are lovely!!  But you can see they are yellow with an orange trumpet. And they smell like jonquil.  All 6 of last years Paper Whites have come out like this this! I prefer them to the Paper Whaites!  I didn't know bulbs could revert. But it makes sense if you think about it. Thanks for your input. Pam

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