This graceful Arts-and-Crafts-era beauty has a special gift. Though few today would call it “brilliant,” there’s something uncannily luminous about its sulphur-yellow petals and warm gold cup that will draw your eye from across the garden. It throws back its petals ever so slightly, too, as if to say exuberantly, “It’s spring . . . and I’m king of the world!” 3 Y-YYO, 21-23”, zones 5-8aS/10aWC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Named for the tiny Irish hometown of its creator Guy Wilson – the 20th century’s grand master of white daffodils – beefy ‘Broughshane’ features creamy white petals and a deeply ruffled trumpet of white with hints of amber, all set off by handsome, blue-green, almost leek-like foliage. 1 W-W, 18-20”, zones 4-7bS/9WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

With layer upon layer of pale, dreamy, chiffon-yellow petals, this rare double daffodil really does look something like a camellia. It’s a sport of the legendary ‘Emperor’ and especially beautiful up close – which led connoisseur Michael Jefferson-Brown to name it one of the fifteen best daffodils for flower arrangers. 4 Y-Y, 18-20”, zones 5-7bS/9WC, Holland. Chart to compare.

Beware of imitations! Our Texas-grown bulbs are the true heirloom that since colonial days has made itself at home in old gardens throughout the South — and north through zone 6 at least. We even have a customer growing them on the shores of Lake Superior.) With their distinctively lobed cups, our true Campernelles are early, fragrant, and full of the grace and staying-power of wildflowers. You’ll have more and more every year! Aka Large Jonquil, 13 Y-Y, 10-14”, zones 6-8bS/10WC, from Texas. Chart to compare.

“There is nothing better,” wrote the immortal Henry Mitchell, “still unsurpassed for planting in quantity.” Lightly scented of vanilla, ‘Carlton’ increases vigorously from North Dakota to Florida and beyond — and it’s frugally priced! 2 Y-Y, 18-20”, zones 3-9aS/11WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

This very rare Victorian pheasant’s eye is another treasure from the illustrious Rev. Engleheart who gave the world ‘Beersheba’, ‘Lucifer’, ‘White Lady’, and many others. It’s richly fragrant, with petals of “driven snow” (to quote the British Saturday Review of 1905), a cup of “glowing orange edged with deep madder,” and a “heart of pure green.” 9WC-GWYR, 18-20”, zones 4-6bS/8WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

With its demure swan’s-neck pose and “high-shouldered” petals that arch forward to embrace the trumpet, this sweet little Victorian daffodil is close kin to N. moschatus and the classic “Silver Bells” daffodil that graces so many old Southern gardens. Its lilting Irish name was the title of one of the 19th century’s most popular plays. It means, fittingly, “fair-haired girl.” 1 W-W, 10-12”, zones 5b-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Delicate looking but strong-growing, this graceful flower – long known as ‘Barrii Conspicuus’ – was one of the landmark achievements of the Victorian daffodil renaissance. A clump in bloom, with its fluttering petals and crinkled, orange-rimmed cup, may well remind you of a host of antique butterflies. Our Fall 2002 Heirloom Bulb of the Year, 3 Y-YYO, 14-16”, zones 4b-7bS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Crowned “Best Historic Daffodil” at the 2008 ADS National Show, this refined double pheasant’s-eye is wonderfully ruffled. It was first found amid thousands of ‘Ornatus’ forced under glass and cut for the London market. Since there was no way to tell which bulb it came from, all were replanted outdoors — and two years later this jewel reappeared. Fragrant, 4W-W, 21-23”, zones 5-7bS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

With dozens of petals neatly nested together as if in a perfect miniature rose – and just as fragrant – this tough little double daffodil has been grown and loved for over 400 years. 4 Y-Y, 10-12”, zones 6-8bS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.