We are delighted to announce a new hybrid daffodil cultivar – Narcissus ‘Kilmacurragh’ (pictured).
This wonderful flower was bred by the famous Northern Ireland daffodil breeder Brian Duncan in 2005 and is a Narcissus poeticus (old pheasant’s eye) hybrid.
Brian Duncan and the Irish Garden Plant Society (Chairman Billy McCone) organised the supply of about twelve hybrid daffodil bulbs to Seamus O’Brien, Foreman at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, Kilmacurragh. Seamus was asked to select one of these to become the Narcissus ‘Kilmacurragh’.
Seamus thought the pictured daffodil was the best fit for Kilmacurragh; it has an old fashioned charm and also it bulks up well so it’s robust and not likely to die out quickly like a lot of modern daffodils. It reaches about 20 cm/ 8 inches tall.
The last time daffodils connected to Kilmacurragh were named was in the late nineteenth century. At this time, Kilmacurragh was home to the Acton family, who were famed for their plant collections. Frederick Burbidge, former Veitchian plant hunter, Curator of Trinity College Botanic Gardens, and daffodil expert, named two of Janet Acton’s daffodil seedlings (both were hybrids that appeared in a border there). Sadly, both of those are now extinct, but but Narcissus ‘Kilmacurragh’ is a cross she would have approved of, says Seamus O’Brien.
Here is the official Certificate of Registration from the Royal Horticultural Society: