M&S Daffodils

[RocW]

This probably goes down as stupid question of the year but I am going to ask anyway. Some time during w/c 05/04/2021 my neighbour bought us some daffodils from M&S Imperial Park Bristol. They were some of the prettiest I have seen; almost cream petals with darker trumpets. I would love to buy some bulbs of them next ya=ear and plant them in my garden. I have no idea of the variety and when i asked Customer Services at M&S they could not tell me. Is there anyone out there who knows what variety they are and if the bulbs are available? All replies gratefully acknowledged.

[rowanwitch]

Bulbs won't be available until the Autumn, your best bet will be to try the bulb catalogues, Bloms, Bakker, and van Meuwen carry a good range or have a look in a good garden centre.

[ladybirder]

Have a look here Roc. https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/the-flowering-narcissus-potted-bulb-collection-1L-pot-x-8.html?utm_term=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1PSDBhDbARIsAPeTqrfDxaLXTmIV5jin8nllsCdY8cbHRe8EiyOwf9CDqRiEVo_1ZBhN3qEaAsOxEALw_wcB

[barry1010]

Have a look at Narcisus Peaches and Cream and Narcissus Cheerfulness

[MargoTester]

https://www.gardenia.net/plant-variety/daffodil-types
Quite a few here

[RocW]

Thank you for this. I know the bulbs won't be available but I was hoping to find the variety so that I could make a note of it for when they are available. I've never seen daffodils like this before in 50 odd years of gardening and I am on the mailing lists of about half a dozen seed/bulb suppliers. Let's hope that they are a new variety which will be available in Autumn.

[rowanwitch]

May be a commercial variety, If you kept the label it may give a reference number for the grower who would be able to tell you.

[THECORBYLOON]

According to M&S, "Our daffodils are grown exclusively for us by one grower in Cornwall and Scotland."

https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/sustainability/food-and-household/product-standards/raw-materials-commodities-and-ingredients/flowers-and-plants

Not sure if that means one grower with two sites or one in each site but I'd have thought M&S could have let you know that.

They may or may not be prepared to reveal the names of the grower(s) and/or the variety.

[RocW]

Hi people, Many thanks to everyone who replied. I've followed up all the links sent to me and now realise just how ignorant I am about the number of varieties. I now am eager to grow many new (to me) varieties. I THINK that the ones we were given were "Cragford" but i'll show the website to SHMBO so that she can make the final decision. I really appreciate all your help and ideas.

[Buenchico]

I suspect that you might struggle to find out what the exact variety was as I suspect that M&S's suppliers simply send them whatever variety is in flower when they receive an order.

As an analogy, I found some utterly superb raspberries in Tesco and made a note of he variety and the supplier. When I went back a week later, in the hope of buying some more, Tesco had got what looked like the same raspberries on their shelves, in the same packaging, at the same price and from the same supplier. However they were a different variety and not as good. I kept checking for several weeks and, as I did so, I noticed that the variety on sale kept changing, even though they always came from the same supplier.

I expect it's much the same with M&S's daffodils. One of their main suppliers, Andrew Farming, was bought out by Produce Investments in 2015, with the deal including "the acquisition of more than 40 new commercial daffodil bulb varieties and 90 smaller seedling varieties".
https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/mergers-and-acquisitions/produce-investments-buys-daffodil-grower-andrew-farming/529535.article

So the daffodils that your neighbour purchased could have been from any one of a very large number of varieties. If he'd gone into the store either a week earlier or a week later, M&S might well have had a completely different variety on sale.

As has already been suggested, all that you can do is look through bulb catalogues to try to find something similar. However you need to remember that not all varieties available to commercial growers are available to grow at home.