Narcissus 'Tête-à-tête'
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| Narcissus 'Tête-à-Tête' | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Species | Narcissus |
| Hybrid parentage | Narcissus cyclamineus × Narcissus ‘Cyclataz’ |
| Cultivar | 'Tête-à-Tête' |
| Breeder | Alec Gray (1895-1986) |
| Origin | Cornwall, United Kingdom |
'Tête-à-tête' is a hybrid cultivar of Narcissus, which was introduced in 1949.[1] It is one of 110 cultivars produced by British daffodil breeder Alec Gray.[2]
Description
Narcissus 'Tête-à-tête' is known as a dwarf variety of daffodil.[3] Plants emerge in early spring and produce deep yellow flowers.[4] Flower are 5-6cm wide.[5] Stems grow up to 15cm tall with each stem usually possessing from 1 to 3 flowers.[4] Flowers consist of a golden perianth with a deeper yellow cup.[3] 'Tête-à-tête' is sterile,[6] therefore cannot reproduce naturally via seed and must instead reproduce asexually via bulb offsets.
History
Renowned horticulturalist and daffodil breeder Alec Gray unintentionally produced many dwarf daffodils in his attempts to breed early flowering daffodil varieties for the cut flower trade. Gray had collected many species of daffodils from trips to Southern Europe,[2] which he used as breeding stock. Among the cultivars produced was Narcissus 'Tête-à-Tête'. The hybrid was first produced in the 1940s and Alec was originally unimpressed with the plant.[7] Alec would later have a change of heart and release it under the name 'Tête-à-Tête' in 1949.[1] He went on to breed many more dwarf daffodil varieties that are also popular today such as: 'Minnow', 'Sun Disc' and 'Elka'.[8] Grey carried on breeding new miniature daffodil varieties until he died in 1986.[9]
'Tête-à-Tête' would go on to take the gardening world by storm and has now become one of the most popular dwarf cultivars of daffodil.[4] The variety has been farmed and sold at an industrial scale. By 2006 it made up 34% of the total Dutch daffodil bulb trade with 17 million pots sold at auction and distributed worldwide.[2] The Royal Horticultural Society awarded this cultivar with a prestigious Award of Garden Merit.[5] In 2014 two new daffodil cultivars known as 'Tête Rosette'[10] and 'Tête Boucle',[11] said to be the offspring of 'Tête-à-Tête' were exhibited at the Lentetuin show in Breezand, the Netherlands.[12] Both new cultivars are now commercially available.
Genetics
'Tête-à-Tête' has a complicated parentage involving both hybrid cultivars and naturally occurring narcissus species. One of the parent plants used to produce 'Tête-à-Tête' is Narcissus cyclamineus. The second parent plant used was Narcissus ‘Cyclataz’, which is an interspecific cross between N. cyclamineus and N. tazetta ('Grand Soleil d'Or').[6]
'Tête-à-Tête' is a triploid plant (2n = 3x = 24 ? 1B chromosome).[6]
Pests and diseases
'Tête-à-tête' can be vulnerable to multiple species of pest, including the large narcissus bulb fly (Merodon equestris), bulb scale mites (Steneotarsonemus laticeps), narcissus eelworm (Ditylenchus dipsaci) and various species of slug.[5] Slugs will eat the flowers, while bulb fly larvae, scale mites and eelworms will eat the bulbs.
Like most Narcissus, 'Tête-à-tête' is also susceptible to narcissus basal rot,[5] which is caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. narcissi.[13]
References
- ^ a b Phillips, Rix, Roger, Martyn (1989). Bulbs Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix. Pan Books LTD. pp. 126–127. ISBN 0330302531.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Kingbury, Noel (2016). Garden Flora. Timber Press. p. 216. ISBN 9781604695656.
- ^ a b "Narcissus 'Tete-a-tete'". www.birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk. 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ a b c "Narcissus 'Tête-à-tête'". www.gardenersworld.com. 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ a b c d "Narcissus 'Tête-à-tête' (12)". Royal Horticultural Society. 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ a b c Wu, Ramanna, Arens, van Tuyl, Hongzhi, Munikote S., Paul, Jaap M (2011-04-09). "Genome constitution of Narcissus variety, 'Tête-à-Tête', analysed through GISH and NBS profiling" (PDF). www.researchgate.net. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Bourne, Val (2013-04-01). "Watch out for narcissus flies..." Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ Gray, Alec (1960). "A list of daffodils grown by Alec Gray" (PDF). Dafflibrary.org. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ Burns, Carol (2015-03-17). "Paint the town yellow: Falmouth spring festival". Great British Life. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ "Narcissus 'Tête Rosette'". Royal Horticultural Society. 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ "Narcissus 'Tête Bouclé'PBR (4)". Royal Horticultural Society. 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ "New Tete à Tete offspring". The Daffodil Society. 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ^ Taylor, Armitage, Jackson, Hulin, Harrison, Clarkson, Handy, Andrew, Andrew, Alison C, Michelle, Richard, John P.,Claire (2019-12-19). "Basal Rot of Narcissus: Understanding Pathogenicity in Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. narcissi". www.researchgate.net. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)