Donnabaskets, I have never gotten a positive ID on any of my found daffodils. But I was on my way to the National Daffodil Society show after I dug that daffodil. I took one of the blooms into the show and it appeared to be an exact match to 'White Lady'. I dug a bunch of daffodils that morning at my Aunt's house. She had died a few weeks before and we had a family gathering in her garden where she had huge drifts of daffodils blooming. The new owners of the house plan to expand the house so a lot of the bulbs will be destroyed. I am hoping that I got about a dozen different varieties from her yard. There is another white daffodil I rescued by the side of the road a few years ago which blooms very late and is extremely fragrant. Unfortunately I do not think it is a reliable bloomer. I have driven by the spot for years and had never seen them bloom but that one year. It also did not bloom in my yard (I cannot remember where I planted it). I do have a wonderful white daffodil which I plan to dig this year for the bulb swap of the daffodil society which I belong. Perhaps we can arrange a trade if you are interested. Frank, I would be interested in trading, please post a picture when they bloom. Kathy

Hi Jim, Please correct me on the names and if you can provide a botanical name, that would be awesome. Taken from the ADS (American Daffodil Society) site, it says, "What is the difference between daffodils and narcissus? None. The two words are synonyms. Narcissus is the Latin or botanical name for all daffodils, just as ilex is for hollies. Daffodil is the common name for all members of the genus Narcissus, and its use is recommended by the ADS at all times other than in scientific writing." Yes, the first one is does look to be Mount Hood. The second pic, yes, is maybe commonly referred to as paperwhites, but there is no actual daffodil named Paperwhite. Those that are referred to as Paperwhites, are usually one of hundreds of cultivars of the "Division 8 - Tazetta Daffodils" Your second picture really looks more like it might be from Division 9 - Poeticus Daffodils Here is a link to all of the Daffodil Divisions King Alfred? I sure cannot say for sure, but it does look to be a Div one yellow petals, and yellow trumpet, (1y-y) so it very well could be. There are however hundreds of cultivars that are 1y-y. Here are all of the 1y-y with pics at Daffseek What was the source of your King Alfreds? Don't know. I have a lot and call them NO ID and give then NO ID numbers for my records. Most of my NO ID came from the big box stores, and are quite common, so in time I will probably figure them out. I took 2 NO ID blooms to a daff show, and they were immediately named. A historic daffodil specialist immediately put a name to a beauty I had been trying for years to get identified. I had rescued the bulbs from an old house site before it was cleared. The historic one I got named was Orange Phoenix a pre 1731 cultivar I entered it then in the Daff Show that day, and it got First Place in the Historic section of a single bloom. The last two pics are what I really enjoy growing. The only problem is they smell like a dead animal. Oh my Jim, they sure don't do much for me, though they are interesting. I love to stop and smell the flowers, so I'm sure they would be a turn off. A flower show of those would have to be held outside I'd think, in the open air. I can't click my pics and make them bigger. You need to copy and paste the HTML Thumb code found below your pic at P-bucket. If you don't see it below the pic, you will need to change your settings...I can help with that if needed. One of my odd daffs from this year. I'm not sure if it was one that I planted in the fall or one that I transplanted from the back yard that had been here for years. Token, What a lovely daff from the Poeticus Division. What was your source of the second bloom? Might it be old or do you know? Sue

Thank you, thank you -- I appreciate your kind words. I so enjoy following the progress of everyone else's gardens, it's nice to have the beginnings of mine to share. Not to worry. There's no way I could take the patina off 50 year old concrete. I have to do some stabilization on the cracked ones to keep them from deteriorating any further. (concrete adhesive and metal bands should do quite nicely). Three of the worst ones, that you can't see in the photo, completely fell apart while the forsythia was being taken down. Water infiltration rusted the center iron support completely away in spots. I plan to use their cannonball tops in the garden in some way. (gosh, they're heavy) Everyone will definitely get to follow my progress with this part of the garden and others. We all love photos, don't we? If you're convenient to the area, I enjoy having visitors and meeting new people -- I call my GW friends my 'Internet dates'. Things in the garden should be cooking along really well by the time we have the 2nd annual plant swap gathering at my house next fall. I have plans spinning around in my head for a series of arches by the detached garage covered with my new climbers . . . and the Van Fleet roses on the other front fence . . . and the modern cutting-style garden . . . and a cottage style garden by the workshop building . . . and what to do with all these Austins? Lots of planning to do over the winter. Goodie, goodie. Connie

My Bullmastiff appeared to be a complete doofus the first time we tried retrieval playtime. Then he got more toys, and we figured out he's got a giant-tennis-ball fetish. He will chase them down and destroy them, and will NOT return them to you or 'drop it' or 'give it' or anything of the sort. It is a fast fuzzy thing and MUST DIE. The chase for those giant balls is very intense for him - so exciting that he almost never remembers to put the brakes on in time and runs headlong into the fence (we've been watching where we throw it now). Oh - and there's the issue with his nubbly squeaky ball (the one he turned his nose up at until our friend's Golden claimed it). He'll go get it, all right. And sometimes you really think he's coming back with it. He runs up at full speed, gets about a foot away from you, tauntingly squeaks it at you, you reach for it, and he runs off with the damned thing like his life depended on keeping it from you. I call this game 'reverse-fetching.' The only toy he'll return is his Kong. Who knows - if he gives it back, it might come back to him with peanut butter and biscuits in it. :)