ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The idea for this book developed from a research thesis completed in the early 1980s,the inspiration for Whtdrdafenvironment of Northem ireland werelved at that me rland is sceped in af ha s given birth to some of the flower's greate: advocates in Hartland ilson and the y be that it was an echo om thi fodil history,following a 's old home f the T hat d a He Garden.which provided the initial spur.In this garden were to be found the aspirations and achievements of several of Ireland's greatest plant breeders whose work has revolutionised our concept of daffodil cultivars. But,of course,people around me at that time also played a part in this story.Professor Alan Sharp,with seph Lec or Peter Roet key from ne (N vers helped mo into reality.I te set Guy Wils n's breed I had access to those tha Members of the Wilson family including Professor Fergus B.Wilson,Connor A.Wilson and Miss Veronica Hall committed their reminiscences to paper and supplied correspondence,photographs and documents. John Shaw,who for 40 years was Wilson's right-hand man,spent several days talking about those wonderful years at 'The Knockan'and also visited the University w we discussed and enjoyed the ves'work d,w had the pleasure th the F ot time.Mrs H.K.R ha n gave me a set 0: iend of ide ided in bundance by the more recent daffodil frater mity in Northern Ireland from which happy band I must single out Kate Reade,Brian Duncan and Sir Frank Harrison. Information on James Coey was provided by Dr E.Charles Nelson,formerly of the National Botanic Garden,Dublin,his source being Mrs Maureen Close of the Lamne and District Folklore Society. In England,much nd.in advice and this work over a considerable searched the Societyrchive to comeuphawerstoall ofmyr riod of time.He has painstakingly uent questions and took on the task of editing the final draft.Without his great personal knowledge of daffodils and his enthusiasm for them,this project would have been difficult. e been helpful over the years including Dr Peter Brandham,Dr n, but the hut 1 Roty.In t al Horticultu ded she it.athic point sheed foudoth and compet the work that she had begun Mention must also be made of several libraries without the help of which the referencing of this work would not have been possible.Special thanks are therefore due to the Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library,the British Library and the library at the Royal ocmorton and Drvan Scheepen sent much useful did M ofth International Throck entre owledged c of s Michael Saln nost of the recent bre ders based in Nor hern Ireland (p 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The idea for this book developed from a research thesis completed in the early 1980s, the inspiration for which came from the ‘daffodilly’ environment of Northern Ireland where I lived at that time. Ireland is steeped in daffodil history and has given birth to some of the flower’s greatest advocates in Hartland, Wilson and the Richardsons. I firmly believe that it was an echo from this daffodil history, following a visit to Wilson’s old home at The Knockan, linked to the joy of working with his daffodils during my curatorship of the Guy L. Wilson Daffodil Garden at The (New) University of Ulster that was designated a National Collection and a Heritage Garden, which provided the initial spur. In this garden were to be found the aspirations and achievements of several of Ireland’s greatest plant breeders whose work has revolutionised our concept of daffodil cultivars. But, of course, people around me at that time also played a part in this story. Professor Alan Sharp, with whom I first discussed the idea, gave much encouragement, and Professor Peter Roebuck, Professor Brian S. Rushton and Joseph Leckey from The (New) University of Ulster helped mould the idea into reality. Dick de Jager loaned the complete set of Guy Wilson’s breeding records and notes and, later, I had access to those that logged Lionel Richardson’s half-century of progress and also those of Brian Duncan. Members of the Wilson family including Professor Fergus B. Wilson, Connor A. Wilson and Miss Veronica Hall committed their reminiscences to paper and supplied correspondence, photographs and documents. John Shaw, who for 40 years was Wilson’s right-hand man, spent several days talking about those wonderful years at ‘The Knockan’ and also visited the University where we discussed and enjoyed the products of their lives’ work. Later, I travelled to Waterford, where I had the pleasure of long discussions with Jack Goldsmith whose work with the Richardsons spanned a similar period of time. Mrs H.K. Richardson gave me a set of catalogues dating from 1923 to 1973 while James Bankhead, a contemporary of Guy Wilson and a close friend of W.J. Dunlop, also provided much information and many old catalogues. Help and assistance was provided in abundance by the more recent daffodil fraternity in Northern Ireland from which happy band I must single out Kate Reade, Brian Duncan and Sir Frank Harrison. Information on James Coey was provided by Dr E. Charles Nelson, formerly of the National Botanic Garden, Dublin, his source being Mrs Maureen Close of the Larne and District Folklore Society. In England, much encouragement came from Professor W.T. Stearn during the early stages of this project and, in more recent times, from Jan Dalton of The Daffodil Society who has provided an enormous amount of advice and put a great deal of effort into this work over a considerable period of time. He has painstakingly searched the Society’s archive to come up with answers to all of my frequent questions and took on the task of editing the final draft. Without his great personal knowledge of daffodils and his enthusiasm for them, this project would have been difficult. Many others have been helpful over the years including Dr Peter Brandham, Dr Philip Orton, George Tarry, Michael Salmon, Clive Postles, Caroline Thompson, Sue Johnson, Christine and Ian Brookes and last, but by no means least, Barbara Fry. In fact, it was Barbara who had already embarked on a project similar to this in the 1980s, but on leaving Rosewarne Experimental Horticulture Station decided she was unable to carry on with it, at which point she asked if I would continue with and complete the work that she had begun. Mention must also be made of several libraries without the help of which the referencing of this work would not have been possible. Special thanks are therefore due to the Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library, the British Library and the library at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. From overseas, Dr Tom Throckmorton and Dr J. van Scheepen sent much useful material as did Mr F. Doerflinger of the International Flowerbulb Centre. Photographs not specifically acknowledged came from a variety of sources, Michael Salmon (most of the species photographs), the late George Tarry, recent breeders based in Northern Ireland (particularly Brian Duncan