Ginter's Gem — a Daffodil Named for Ginter
by Jonah Holland, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
Ginter’s Gem, photo courtesy Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.
Aren’t friends great?! Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden has so many wonderful friends. We have friends who are great corporate partners, friends who are members and generous donors, we have over 500 friends who volunteer here at the Garden. But today, I want to talk about two friends who are experts — experts in daffodils.
Our friends Brent & Becky’s Bulbs and Ross Hotchkiss of the Virginia Daffodil Society had an idea to name a daffodil after Lewis Ginter. Needless to say, we are honored. Jay Hutchins, “Grin-eral Manager” of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, explains how it came about, “‘Ginter’s Gem’ came to be, not only because of our long standing relationship with Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, but mainly because of the camaraderie between the Virginia Daffodil Society and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. LGBG has been, over the years, so accommodating to the Virginian Daffodil Society and they were so appreciative, that some of their members came to us and said ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we could name a daffodil for the botanical garden and its namesake?’ At the time, Brent and Becky had some seedlings in the pipeline ready to be named. The members of the Virginia Daffodil Society looked at the seedlings and picked the soon-to-be-named ‘Ginter’s Gem’ because of its brightness (a soft, bright yellow) and its floriferousness (many, MANY blooms per stem). So, Brent and Becky took this cultivar to the leadership at LGBG to get their blessing and to them, it was an easy decision to make.”
In the name Ginter’s Gem, the Ginter refers to the Garden of course and ‘Gem’ is a reference to Richmond Gems, the cigarette with trading cards that our namesake, Lewis Ginter, made famous. Ginter’s Gem will be available for the first time ever tomorrow, Friday, September 20, at the Fall Plant Sale. If you’ve got friends like we do, you’ll want to buy them a few of this wonderful new cultivar. It’s a beautiful daffodil, and a perfect symbol of friendship.
If you love daffodils, the next Virginia Daffodil Society Show is April 5-6, 2014, the week when the most divisions and cultivars of narcissus will be blooming in Central Virginia.