Hi Lovelies!
I mentioned a few posts ago that I should have planted more bulbs for spring. Maybe it wasn’t a post, it might have been in the podcast. Either way, I was talking about it somewhere! I’m seriously missing the fact that there are no new tulips, ranunculus, hyacinths, or anything else currently in bloom. However, I’ve still got my daffodils! I’ve got daffodils blooming everywhere!
With a little extra spare time on my hands, it was inevitable that I would eventually get the bright idea to try creating my own daffodil hybrid!
I’ll admit, when it comes to plant breeding, I am the absolute definition of the word “amateur”. I really don’t have a clue what I’m doing, but after consulting the internet – I decided I would try!
At a basic level, I proceeded as follows:
- Find a pollen donor.
- Find a seed parent.
- Remove pollen via tweezers, paintbrush, etc.
- Apply pollen to stigma of seed parent.
- Tag and wait to collect seeds.
It’s important to realize that things are totally not as simplistic as I make them seem in this post. I usually aim for simplicity whenever I write about things that I don’t fully have a grasp of. I’m sure there are tons of factors that I’ve not even given thought. For example, daffodils have “perfect” flowers which enable them to potentially self-pollinate. I honestly have no idea at what rate this occurs. I’m sure removing pollen from the seed parent would be an important step if one was out to create an uncontaminated cross. There are various types of narcissus, and I can’t say with certainty that all types will readily/freely cross with each other. You get the idea. One of the reasons that I love blogging and social media so much is to share experiences and ideas – even if something that I try is a complete failure, it may actually be helpful to someone out there!
For more info, check out the YouTube video that goes with this blog post:
I just found some of your videos on YouTube. I love gardening and wish we were neighbors and could be gardening buddies in real life. I’ve watched a ton of gardening videos (I think I’m kind of addicted 🤣) and even though you don’t seem to think you’re very fancy at gardening, I love your genuine, accessible aproach and have learned a lot from just the few videos I’ve seen of yours. I just saw your January 2017 video where you seemed a little discouraged and mentioned there had been mean people telling you your accent was horrible, your videos were no good, and you should just give up. I live in Utah and whenever we hear people with your accent, we think it is just adorable. You have the best accent on YouTube gardening videos as far as I’m concerned and you shouldn’t listen to them. Don’t give up. Your unassuming, easy and budget friendly approach is going to reach and encourage a lot of people. 👍
Thank you so much for your kind words and support! 🙂 🙂 It’s truly appreciated. My goal has definitely always been to make seed starting and growing more accessible to people without a lot of money to spend on it. I know I’m always on a tight budget. My first years gardening were complete failures – no grow lights, no trays, no clue what I was doing! Lol! Ive still got a lot to learn! I hope you’re having a really great day! 🙂