This “enduring, sweet-scented” narcissus “deserves more respect and popularity,” says Thad Howard in his expert Bulbs for Warm Climates. Passed along for centuries, it’s often the first tazetta of the new year, with narrow, pointed petals that make its blossoms look like fistfuls of stars. 8 W-Y, 20 inches, zones 8-9S/10W, from Alabama. Chart to compare.

Known for decades as THE pink daffodil, ‘Mrs. R.O. Backhouse’ is one of the landmark bulbs of the now-vanished 20th century. She’s more truly ivory and apricot, but so beautiful – a veritable sunrise for those who watch closely – that most modern pinks can’t hold a candle to her. For her enduring beauty, vigor, and place in history, we honored her as our Fall 2005 Heirloom Bulb of the Year. 2 W-P, 16-18 inches, zones 4-8aS/10W, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Named for Lily Langtry, the spirited actress whose affair with King-to-be Edward VII titillated Victorian England, this rare beauty has milky white petals and a small, crinkled canary cup that matures to ivory ringed with gold. Guy Wilson, who spent his life breeding spectacular new daffodils, wrote in 1929, “I hope we shall not lose altogether some of the older flowers of such undeniable beauty and grace as ‘Mrs. Langtry’.” 2 W-W, 18-20 inches, zones 5-7bS/9W, from Holland’s greatest daffodil collector. Chart to compare.

This refined, up-town cousin of everybody’s favorite ‘Thalia’ sets the hearts of daffodil connoisseurs aflutter. It’s sublimely graceful, with smoother, thicker, more rounded petals of a white that expert Michael Jefferson-Brown calls “dazzling in its purity.” 5 W-W, 18-20 inches, zones 5-8aS/10W, from Pennsylvania. We’re not sure we’ll be able to offer this rare variety in fall 2010. To stay informed, subscribe to our free email newsletter.

This is not your usual pheasant’s-eye! It’s the earliest blooming of that season-ending clan, two weeks ahead of our traditional pheasant’s-eye, N. p. recurvus (below). And though it’s hardy to -15° F, it thrives in Southern heat that’s often death to its kin. With snowy white petals, a small yellow eye ringed with red-orange, and lavish fragrance. 9 W-YYR, 16-18 inches, zones 5-7bS/9W, from Holland. Chart to compare.

The poet’s narcissus grows wild in alpine meadows from Spain into the Balkans and is pictured in English herbals of the early 1600s. This form is the oldest available and, though it dates officially to 1831, it’s indistinguishable from those in colonial gardens. It’s famously fragrant and late-blooming, with sparkling white petals that arch back from a “green eye and crimson-fringed crown” (William Robinson). 13 W-YYR, 12-14 inches, zones 4-6bS/8W, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Extra-early and extra-beautiful, this wildflowery trumpet daffodil is a bicolor N. pseudonarcissus (see Lent lily). Millions were once harvested for bouquets sold in London’s Covent Garden, and it’s great for naturalizing. Daffodil connoisseur Alec Gray wrote in 1955, “A drift of it is a thing of... lightness and grace.” 1 W-Y, 14-16 inches, zones 5-8aS/10W, from Holland. Chart to compare.

With her elegant, rounded, snow-white petals and fluted lemon cup, this Queen is as cool as a frosty glass of lemonade. “Certainly one of the most beautiful of all daffodils,” the great plantsman John Wister wrote in 1930, and she’s still winning blue ribbons today! 3 W-Y, 16-18 inches, zones 4-7S/9W, from Holland. Chart to compare.

This fiery jewel won major awards in 1950, 1968, 1977, 1985, and the RHS AGM – one of gardening’s highest accolades – in 1993. With yellow petals and a broad, ruffled cup dipped in incandescent orange, it brings wonderful energy to the spring garden. Named for the historic red cattle of Devonshire. 2 Y-O, 24-26 inches, zones 5-7S/9W, from Holland. Chart to compare.

‘Rip’ is a cutie. Early and dwarf, its spiky little blooms look like tiny yellow suns, cactus dahlias, sea anemones, or even mop-headed elves – depending on your imagination. It’s also cheap and wonderfully easy to force. 4 Y-Y, 6-8 inches, zones 4-7bS/9bW, from Holland. Chart to compare.