The King Alfred Trumpet Daffodil:The True Story

The King Alfred Trumpet daffodil was the first trumpet daffodil to be widely sold commercially. It was developed in the late 19th century by John Kendall,an English attorney and hobbyist plant breeder. Daffodil breeders had been developing trumpet daffodils for years but none had the most desired qualities of a huge trumpet and very large flowers.

Kendall died in 1890 so it is believed that the King Alfred daffodil dates to around that time. He never saw the first bloom of the flower that was named for Alfred The Great,the medieval English king. The first official record of King Alfred was in 1899 when it was registered with the Royal Horticultural Society.

The King Alfred trumpet daffodil produced a sensation among narcissus lovers. King Alfred had huge golden yellow flowers sometimes measuring four inches or more across on a plant that often reached two feet in height. The long, flaring trumpets protruding from slightly twisted petals were unlike anything ever seen among daffodil flowers. It was a big departure from older types like jonquils,paperwhites and pheasant's eye.

By the early 1900s the original hundred or so bulbs had multiplied enough for King Alfred to be sold commercially. When it was introduced to the North American plant trade,the new trumpet daffodil was a huge hit. Growers all over the United States scrambled to produce the bulbs in great enough numbers to ensure there would be plenty to be sell to home gardeners.

While America was falling in love with the new King Alfred daffodil,horticulturalists in Europe took the bulb and began to improve it, producing newer cultivars that had even bigger,longer lasting and more symmetrical flowers on stronger stems. By the 1920s only a few nurseries were still growing the true King Alfred.

Americans were very attached to the name King Alfred because because it was the first and only trumpet daffodil that they had ever known. The name "King Alfred" was never trademarked in any country so in the U.S. in particular King Alfred became the generic name for all yellow trumpet daffodils.

Even bulbs that date to the 1920s or 30s are likely to actually be newer varieties such as Golden Harvest or Dutch Master even though they were probably sold as King Alfred. To add to the confusion some botanists believe that nearly all of the original King Alfred bulb stock in North America was wiped out by a viral disease before the middle of the century.

Even today many plant retailers continue to sell daffodil bulbs carrying the King Alfred name.This raises the obvious question,"Is my daffodil the real thing?" The unfortunate answer is probably not, unless your bulbs are heirloom plants that come from a garden that dates to the turn of the 20th century.If you've bought daffodil bulbs sold as King Alfred in the last few years,especially if you bought in bulk or at a budget price,they are almost certainly not the real thing.

So does the true King Alfred daffodil still exist at all? The answer seems to be yes. King Alfred can still be found growing in old gardens and among the plants of collectors. There are a handful of bulb producers in Holland who still grow the real King Alfred in order to keep it from becoming extinct. Very few of the bulbs are still offered for sale though.

McClure and Zimmerman in Wisconsin sells small quantities that they order direct from the grower in The Netherlands. (I'm not affiliated with McClure and Zimmerman in any way. I do buy bulbs from them though.)

So,if you just found out the King Alfred trumpet daffodil bulbs your grandmother thought were the real deal probably aren't,don't be too disappointed. Since King Alfred is the ancestor of all trumpet daffodils even modern varieties have at least a little royal chlorophyll in them.