This hybridized wonder comes from the hybridization of Paper White Narcissus, Pheasant’s Eye and Jonquil and is a hardy, fragrant, multi-stemmed daffodil that is sure to be a success in your California garden.

Lucy Tolmach, director of horticulture at Filoli estate in Woodside, told me about this daffodil last fall and many of my clients each tried out one hundred of its bulbs.  Reports were ecstatic about the long blooming season and fragrance. Last fall, I planted over 2,000 of them in three locations on my property beginning in December and finishing in January.

At Filoli, in the first year 2007, Lucy planted 15,000 bulbs north west of the mansion and
another 50,000 the following year. The rich butter yellow petals with orange cups in clusters of five to eight flowers to a stem sway with the breeze from February into March. They increase yearly and were initially planted 6″ on center.

The field was planted in a grid for maximum and even coverage as the bulbs increase.

Above is the field of Golden Dawn at Filoli blooming in 2009 after 50,000 more daffodils were added in 2008 for a total of 65,000 daffodils.

Hybridizer, William Welch describes it as something that “you stick it into the ground and forget about it,” and the bulbs “multiply like rabbits” and start to produce a second crop as soon as the first crop fades. It thrives in poor soil and deer and gophers find it repellent as they do all daffodils. The bulbs can be planted through January although earlier is better. They can be planted immediately upon receipt to await the winter rains.