Florists flowers and parlor plants

By the latter half of the 1800s, tazetta hybridizing specialized into two directions targeting different markets. 

One direction was for tall, robust plants with long stems for the cut flower growers. Though the legacy of the cut flower market is well documented in daffodil lore, only a few of these tailored cultivars remain on the market today, the best known being 'Avalanche'.

The second targeted the home gardener with smaller plants suited for indoor flowering, be it the parlor or the conservatory. Forcing bulbs indoors was a well established tradition, but tall plants, such as trumpets, often required the foliage to be tied up. Shorter, stout plants were much better suited to the home. 

In the collection, there are around twenty cultivars of each group. The tall florists flowers have stems ranging from 18 inches to 24 inches, and by the end of the season can be very large plants. The bulbs, when fully mature, are also very large. 

Stems on the parlor plants range from twelve to fifteen inches, with the foliage in the same range while in bloom. A few plants have narrower and longer foliage, appearing more 'grassy' in form suggesting a much earlier hybrid. All varieties continue to grow through the season; by dormancy the foliage is usually over twenty-four inches.