The Royal Horticultural Society has asked the public to try to spot rare pink daffodils in a bid to try and save the flower
Gardeners are being asked to keep their eyes out for a rare type of daffodil this spring(Image: Getty Images)
Gardeners have been told to keep their eyes peeled for a rare daffodil this spring as part of a national effort to preserve the flower. People are being told to look out for a splash of pale pink among the usual yellow and white of Wales’ national flower.
Named after the botanist who cultivated it nearly a century ago the Mrs R O Backhouse is the oldest pink variety of the flower. It has been out of commercial cultivation for several years raising fears it could disappear.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is running the “daffodil diaries” scheme to map daffodils across the UK in a hope to bring the rare pink daffodil back into cultivation.
In the hope that the rare bloom is still found in some gardens the RHS is asking gardeners to send in photographs and bulbs for identification. Mrs R O Backhouse can be identified by its solid coral pink trumpet and ivory flowers.
The hunt for the pink daffodil is just one aim of the RHS’s “daffodil diaries” campaign in which gardeners will be asked to log all the types they spot in their flowerbeds. Make sure you never miss Wales’ biggest updates by getting our daily newsletter.
The charity hopes to take stock of rare varieties and track how they are responding to climate change. Last year the RHS received nearly 3,000 submissions as part of the scheme from the Scilly Isles to the Outer Hebrides.
The Royal Horticultural Society said the Mrs R O Backhouse daffodil is more of a salmon than a true pink(Image: PA)
Mapping of flowers reported in gardens and local green spaces last year revealed 60% were trumpet daffodils and 56% were all-yellow varieties with the all-yellow trumpet making up more than two-fifths (42%) of those recorded.
A fifth of flowers reported were cup-shaped and 16% were doubles. Just 6% of daffodils were reported to contain pink with 1% green and 0.4% red.
This year owners of blooms thought to be one of the rare daffodils will be invited to dig them up after flowering so the RHS can grow them in a trial at the charity’s research facility at Wisley in Surrey with experts assessing the flowers in spring next year.
If any of the daffodils are Mrs R O Backhouse,they can, with the owner’s permission, be donated to plant breeder Scamps Daffodils, which is working with the Backhouse Rossie Estate – home to the national collection of Backhouse daffodils – to bring the flower back into widespread cultivation.
RHS chief horticulturist Guy Barter said: “With 30,000 daffodil varieties thought to be available in the UK telling one from another requires an experienced eye but this diversity is fundamental to their potential benefit for people and planet and why it’s so important we celebrate and preserve them.
“Rare daffodils were spotted across the country and raising them in one location next year will enable us to confirm some of them as the rare varieties we have been searching for and, potentially, find others thought to be in decline.”
RHS principal plant scientist Dr Kalman Konyves said: “Our daffodil diaries mapping project has revealed the daffodil to be a truly national flower being grown in all four corners of the country.
“Yellow daffodils are far and away the most popular, not unsurprising, for their welcome burst of colour. But it is interesting to note that the more adaptable pinks have proven less popular than we might have assumed and green and red varieties negligible highlighting the importance in maintaining cultivated diversity in gardens.”
Last year’s results showed daffodils in bloom across spring with peak flowering in March while the distinctive miniature tete-a-tete variety flowered solely in February and March.
Over time the RHS said it would be able to look at the data from daffodil diaries to identify any changes in peak flowering and the effects of geography and evolving fashions.
Dr Konyves added: “It will be fascinating to see how this year’s weather conditions impact on flowering, indeed current mild conditions seem to be encouraging earlier flowering and, over the long term, how the daffodil is weathering the influence of climate change.”
As well as the pink Mrs R O Backhouse gardeners are also encouraged to report sightings of the white double-flowered Mrs William Copeland and orange and yellow double flower Sussex Bonfire.
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