Small-Cupped Daffodils Of Garden Origin: Division 3

Small-cupped daffodils,also called short-cupped daffodils are perhaps the most  hybridized type of narcissus grown in gardens today.Small cups are some of the most beautiful daffodils and are also generally the most expensive type of daffodil bulbs to buy.

Like their trumpet and large-cupped cousins,this type of daffodil will produce one flower per stem.Short-cupped daffodils by definition have a cup that is less than one-third the length of the petals. But the most popular small-cupped narcissus flowers have cups that are much smaller than this.

Most of the Division 3 daffodils have narcissus poeticus(Division 9) parentage which explains the tiny "eyes" of this type. Poeticus daffodils are also called "Pheasant's Eye" because their tiny coronas resemble a bird's eye. The most common form has a green center surrounded by yellow band with a red ring around the outside.

Because most small-cupped daffodils are late blooming they are not the best type for southern gardens. They prefer the cooler spring weather of the northeastern U.S. and the Mid-Atlantic States. If you still want to try to grow short-cupped daffodils in the deep south try to find an early-mid season blooming variety.

If you need just a few daffodil bulbs to to plant in a formal flower bed and you're willing to pay a little more, a small-cupped daffodil could be one of the best specimens to choose. If you plant these bulbs make sure to plant them where the flowers can be seen and smelled. Small-cupped daffodils are special and deserve to be appreciated.

Small Cupped Daffodil Green Pearl

The Green Pearl small-cupped daffodil is a sport of Actaea, a very old variety of poeticus daffodil. Green Pearl blooms in mid season and has the typical spicy fragrance of a Pheasant's Eye narcissus.