Herbaceous Bulbs : Other Details

General

For the majority of the criteria HP.B1- 3 grading standards and measures have been developed and accepted for the usual specification of bulbs, corms and tubers. However in some instances it may be appropriate to specify other details. The following is a list of some of the more typical extra specification requirements which might be used. The list should be considered to be indicative and not comprehensive.


DN Sizes of Genus Narcissus

Garden hybrids of Narcissus are often sold in DN (Double Nose) grades. These result from the typical 'double bulb' of these larger Narcissus. The following grades are typical but not definitive.

DN grade Circumference Bulbs/tonne No. of flowers
DN1 14/16 11,000 19,000
DN2 12/14 16,000 20,000
DN3 10/12 20,000 20,000

 

The use of DN Sizing of Narcissus is being phased out.

Origin and Provenance

These terms are of particular importance in the specification of native (indigenous) plants or plants which are required from a known source of propagation material.

Origin is defined as "the place in which indigenous plants are growing or the place from which non-indigenous plants were originally introduced."

Provenance is defined as "the place in which any plants, whether indigenous or non-indigenous are growing."

It is not appropriate to specify particular origin/provenance speculatively. A limited number of specialist growers are producing native species and may be listed as sources. Specifications should be developed following discussions with specialists (ecologists and growers) and then contract grown to precise requirements. At the moment it is probably easiest to specify the required provenance (indicating the exact source of the young plants or propagation material) if this is significant to the project. Establishing the origin of plants is a complex issue which is currently the topic of research. It is hoped that this result will yield information which will assist in the specification of plants for our landscapes.

Current British Standards indicate that the 'country of origin' is the country where the plant has been growing for the latter half of the most recent growing season. If this is not acceptable, then may be necessary to require information about the provenance of the propagation material (seed, cuttings, budwood, grafts, etc.) in the specification.