Cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set optional analytics cookies to help us improve it. We won't set optional cookies unless you enable them or accept our recommended settings. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

Options
Necessary cookies enable core functionality on our website. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.
We use marketing cookies to personalise your visit to our website and show you tailored advertising based on your likes and interests.
We use analytics cookies to monitor visitor behaviour patterns and improve our website performance.

Your preferences have been set. If you wish to change your preferences, you may do so on our cookies page.

Search My Trust
Join now
Join
Close

Looking for places? Use our place search to find them by name, town or postcode.

See all stories
24 May 2024

The PLANTS project: Five favourite Brodie narcissus

Written by Philippa Holdsworth (North Team Manager)
A view of Brodie Castle in the background, with a grassy bank covered in daffodils in the foreground. A long stone wall runs beside a path that leads to the castle.
Daffodils in full bloom at Brodie Castle
While the PLANTS Project North team audited the garden at Brodie, the First Gardener selected five daffodil cultivars as some of his personal favourites.

The PLANTS Project North team have visited Brodie Castle in Moray three times since the early spring. This is a season of particular interest at Brodie, which is home to a National Collection of Narcissus, the genus that includes plants we know as daffodils and jonquils amongst others.

The collection at Brodie is based on the daffodil varieties bred by Major Ian Brodie, the 24th Laird of Brodie, between 1899 and his death in 1943, with interruptions for his periods of military service during the Boer War and the First World War.

Read more about Major Ian Brodie

But how do you select a top 5 from a collection of over 200 varieties? There is no better person to ask than Jonathan Barton, First Gardener at Brodie Castle, who takes care of the National Collection.

1. Narcissus ‘Coulmony’

A close-up shot of some 'Coulmony' daffodils. They have very delicate, pale yellow outer petals, with a slightly stronger yellow trumpet at the centre.

This variety has chunky bulbs and leaves, making it easy and robust to handle. It also gets the season underway by flowering early. The work of developing daffodil varieties continued at Brodie after Major Brodie’s death – this is an example of a cultivar from 1957.

2. Narcissus ‘Elgin’

A close-up shot of a bright yellow daffodil. Its outer petals and trumpet are the same shade of yellow.

This variety has a particularly large bulb and is a tall plant. It displays a large, strongly yellow flower. It was developed by Ian Brodie in 1927.

3. Narcissus ‘Highland Rose’

A close-up shot of a Highland Rose daffodil. It has very pale, almost white, outer petals and a very pale pink trumpet, with a yellow centre deep inside the trumpet.

Inevitably, someone who develops lots of daffodil varieties is not going to stick with white and yellow! Highland Rose is a beautiful white and pink variety dating from 1943. It is late-flowering and was still being shy when the PLANTS team last visited in April.

4. Narcissus ‘Wendy’

Some daffodils grow in a flower bed on a sunny day. They have pale yellow petals with a strong yellow trumpet.

Every gardener likes to have some robust plants that they can always rely on to put on a show regardless of conditions. Jonathan describes Wendy as ‘tough and reliable’. Good old Wendy!

5. Narcissus ‘Fortune’

A close-up of a bright yellow daffodil with an almost-orange trumpet.

Major Brodie was one of only four daffodil breeders in the UK when he started out. When the collection belonging to Walter Ware was struck by eel worm, almost wiping out the Fortune bulb, he sent the four remaining bulbs to his fellow breeders; the one received by Major Brodie was the only one to survive. Many of the varieties developed at Brodie were bred from this last surviving bulb.

A mass of daffodil planting in the Playful Garden at Brodie Castle.

Plant Listing at the National Trust for Scotland (PLANTS) is the biggest horticultural audit project undertaken by the Trust and aims to celebrate, protect and better understand the flora and vegetation across our gardens and designed landscapes.

Read more about the PLANTS project

Featured Places

Daffodils in front of Brodie Castle in springtime
Place

Brodie Castle & Estate

Magnificent turreted castle with a Playful Garden and amazing springtime daffodil displays

The Highlands

Related Content

Field of daffodils with construction work in the background

Caring for Scotland’s daffodil heritage at Brodie Castle

Thanks to the Trust’s conservation work, Brodie Castle’s historic Daffodil Shed has been returned to use.

A large group of Trust gardeners, all wearing navy jackets, stand in front of some ferns and a tall flowering rhododendron in Brodick Castle Garden. The castle can just be seen in the distance.

The PLANTS project: the Brodick audit

The PLANTS project team recently visited Brodick Castle. The Project Manager shares some behind-the-scenes insights into the team’s work.

The PLANTS project: 8 plants to look out for this Easter

The PLANTS project team have selected some of their favourite Easter plants from across the Trust’s gardens.

Daffodils carpet the grounds in front of Brodie Castle. The trees in front of the castle are bare.

Brodie’s blooming marvellous springtime display

Brodie Castle’s daffodils are bursting into bloom all around the estate. Here’s the story behind the green-fingered Scottish soldier who left a global legacy that’s still enjoyed by so many today.

Back to top