The hoop that's out of the loop

By Jemima Laing
BBC Devon

This picture was taken on 29 October 2009

The wet, cool summer was not only a disappointment, it also had an unusual affect on some of the county's flora.

Staff at RHS Rosemoor in north Devon believe the weather may have fooled this little hoop-petticoat daffodil into believing it was time to flower.

They are usually seen from January onwards, although high season in Devon is typically from February to March.

"It is a lovely but very lonely harbinger of the delights of spring to come," said Rosemoor's Chris Bailes.

It is one of the species of daffodils grown at Rosemoor for colour in late winter and early spring and is called Narcissus bulbocodium subsp. bulbocodium var. citrinus.

"A very long name for a very short plant!" joked Chris, Rosemoor's curator.

'Damp grassland'

Hoop-petticoat daffodils are widely distributed in the wild, from south west and western France throughout Spain and Portugal to North Africa.

"They do well in damp grassland that dries out in summer and when happy with their conditions will naturalise and increase in numbers from year to year, as they have done here," said Chris.

"Together with another dwarf species, Narcissus cyclamineus, they create a wonderful late winter feature in meadows at Rosemoor, at Wisley and in the Savill Garden."

Although it is very unusual to see them flowering at this time of year, the flowers are often in growth by now, with their narrow cylindrical dark green leaves showing among the autumn turf.