These odd little cuties are the true Southern heirloom, not Dutch look-alikes. With funnel-shaped cups and exclamation-point petals, they may remind you of cartoon characters. Short and early, they’re not easy to please but seem to do best in gritty acid soil that bakes in summer. 13 Y-Y, 8-10 inches, zones 6b-8bS/10WC, from Texas. Last offered in 2009. We may offer it again periodically, or we could special order it for you.

Named for the Roman poet who celebrated country life and carpe diem, ‘Horace’ was for decades the standard of excellence that all other poet’s narcissus were judged against. With a jewel-like eye aglow with orange and red, it’s been called George Engleheart’s “greatest triumph.” Fragrant, 9 W-GOR, 18-20 inches, zones 4-7aS/9WC, from Holland. Last offered in 2008. We hope to offer it again soon. For an alert, sign up for our email newsletter.

Lemon chiffon pie? The fresh, misty-pale color of this rare old double is hard to describe but refreshingly different than the deep yellows and golds of most daffodils. It’s distinct in shape, too, a fluffy poof of a flower, relaxed yet never sloppy. Grow a few yourself, and prepare to meet a real individual! 4 Y-Y, 16-18 inches, zones 4-7S/9WC, from Holland. Last offered in 2007. We hope to offer it again soon. For an alert, sign up for our email newsletter.

“Even more fragrant than most jonquils,” wrote ADS president George Lee of this unusually late-blooming miniature that’s as cute as, well, a baby goat. With rounded petals and an oversized cup like a hungry baby’s mouth, it was bred by Alec Gray, the 20th century’s pioneering master of miniature daffodils. 1-2 flowers per stem, 7Y-Y, 10-12”, zones 6-8bS/10WC, from Holland’s greatest daffodil collector. Last offered in 2009. We may offer it again periodically, or we could special order it for you.

Our good customer Catherine Yaden of Charleston reports that six of our ‘LK’ produced “over 80 flowers on multiple stems – amazing!” A vigorous, cluster-flowered beauty, it has creamy petals, little golden yellow-orange cups, and a superb fragrance. It’s also one of the oldest poetazes, a group launched in 1890 by crossing N. poeticus and N. tazetta. 8-Y, 16-18”, zones 6-8S/10WC, from Holland. Last offered in 2004. Widely available elsewhere.

No bigger than a crocus (that’s ‘Paulus Potter’ and Tulipa schrenkii in our photo) and almost as early, this selected form of the Pyrenean mountains wildflower N. minor is so small and perfect you may have trouble believing it’s real. Its tiny, bright yellow trumpets fit anywhere and force eagerly. 1 Y-Y, 4-6”, zones 4-7S/9WC, from Holland. Last offered in 2004. Widely available elsewhere.

Cute name, very cute flower. From the wild N. cyclamineus, ‘Little Witch’ is a bright yellow pixie with a long, fluted, “stove-pipe” trumpet and petals that sweep back as if it were riding a tiny broomstick. It’ s vigorous, early-blooming, and a terrific perennializer. 6 Y-Y, 10-12 inches, zones 6-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Last offered in 2009. We may offer it again periodically, or we could special order it for you.

Here’s a perky little flower with a “stove-pipe” cup no wider than a pencil – and a mysterious past. Naturalist and wine merchant Alexander Macleay reputedly sent it to London from Smyrna in the 1820s, but it has never been found growing in the wild anywhere and experts continue to debate its parentage. No matter, “it is a jolly little plant and a collector’s piece,” says John Blanchard, and “deplorably scarce.” 13 W-Y, 8-10 inches, zones 6-8, from Holland. Last offered web-only in 2007. We may offer it again periodically.

“Save the Bulbs!” we always say, and Jane Kuitems did, rescuing from oblivion the finest white daffodil of the 19th century. In the 1930s Jane’s mother worked for a florist in up-state NY who forced daffodils for cutflowers. She planted some at home; they multiplied like rabbits; everyone loved it; Jane eventually shared some with us; we asked expert Joe Hamm for help identifying it; and in 2004 we re-introduced this elegant grand dame – to a frenzy. 1 W-W, 14-16”, zones 4-7bS/9WC, from Pennsylvania. Last offered in 2007. We hope to offer it again soon. For an alert, sign up for our email newsletter.

This pixie, born of the tiny, wild N. asturiensis crossed with N. poeticus, has soft, primrose petals and a bright yellow cup touched with orange. Bred by Alec Gray, the 20th century’s pioneering breeder of miniatures, it’s too large for the show-bench today but utterly charming in the garden. A connoisseurs’ choice, it was already “very scarce” by the 1960s. 2 Y-YYO, 8-10 inches, zones 5-7, from Holland. Last offered web-only in 2006. We may offer it again periodically, or we could special order it for you.

Though this dramatic poetaz has just two or three florets per stem, they’re so gosh darn BIG – up to 3 inches across – that you’ll only need a few stems to fill a vase. With bright, jewel-like colors and a warm perfume, ‘Martha’ can be the belle of the ball in your spring garden. 8WC-O, 21-23”, zones 6-8aS/10WC, from California’s idyllic Carmel Valley. Last offered in 2009. We may offer it again periodically, or we could special order it for you.