That’s x Pardancanda, if you please — it’s an intergeneric cross of Belamcanda chinensis x Pardanthopsis dichotoma. The name is taken from part of each genus name: Pardan + canda. I have wondered if they knew they were going to call it “Candy Lily” when they came up with the new genus, because the “canda” bit does fit in nicely. (And if you’ve never heard of Pardanthopsis, it used to be called Iris dichotoma. It’s one of the beardless Irises, and has the lovely common name of Vesper Iris — presumably because the blooms opened at the hour for Vespers?)
Anyway, x Pardancanda was introduced by our own Doc Alston in the early ’70’s, but Doc will tell you that all the breeding was done by Sam Norris, who purchased the original plants from Park Seed. The species is named for him, but Mr. Norris never released any varieties onto the market, so Doc redid the crosses and came up with the mix that Park Seed has been selling so successfully for 40 years. Doc claims he played around with selecting individual colors but was never satisfied with the results, which does sound just like him — too modest by half! At any rate, there have been other selections, but I believe ‘Sangria’ is the first individual color. The flowers are larger and the season of interest even longer. Candy Lilies have those big, shiny, blackberry-like seedpods that people are keen to use in indoor arrangements, so after the blooms pass in late summer or early fall, the performance continues with a new look.
Read More
Mount Hood Daffodil
Mt. Hood is a fine Daffodil for the south. My buddy in south Texas grows it in a big patch with King Alfred Improved where his lawn used to be. He’s one of these fellows who won’t grow anything introduced later than the second World War, for reasons I’ve never been able to fathom. But I must admit that the combination of bright white and yellow looks good even from a distance. Jim — my Texas buddy — says that water makes all the difference to bulbs in his climate, and that if you don’t get a wet enough winter, you’d better start watering in January or so. I don’t think things have ever gotten that extreme here in Greenwood (though we still call ourselves zone 7b instead of 8, which is where we really are these days climate-wise), but it’s an interesting point.
Mt. Hood is kind of fun because when it first opens, the whole thing is a sort of cream color. The perianth fades pretty quickly to white, but the trumpet — it’s one of the Giant Trumpets, you know — remains off-white for some time before finally bowing to the inevitable. Once you’ve got a big planting you can see the blooms at all stages at once, since the older ones will come up and open sooner than the johnny-come-latelies.
All I know about Mt. Hood is that the RHS took its time recognizing this Daffodil’s worth. The variety was introduced in the late ’30’s and I don’t believe the RHS gave it the nod until the ’90’s — hope the breeder wasn’t counting on that Award of Merit in his or her own lifetime!
King Alfred Improved Daffodil
By the way, King Alfred Improved won’t let you down here in South Carolina either. Say what you will about King Alfred Improved — it’s like poor Stella de Oro, too commonly used to be appreciated — it blooms anywhere, and those flowers are huge.
Read More
