Below are the results of 4th Annual Mother Lode Show held March 13 & 14  and hosted by Kautz Ironstone Vineyard.

Show Statistics:  Count: 821 blooms, 398 exhibits and 16 exhibitors.

This show results information is presented in the following format:

1. the identification of the award;

2. the name of the cultivar(s) and possibly the division (a number from 1 thru 13) followed by the color of the petals, a dash, and the color of the cup;

3. and the name of the exhibitor.

Some of the daffodils have multiple colored petals and cups, so you will see more than one color identified between the dashes. For more information about the classification of daffodils see Classification Definitions.

GOLD RIBBON - Gold Ribbon, White Ribbon, and Rose Ribbon: Hager Sdlg D441 2Y-R (Ben Hager).
This group became known as "The Best of Everything!"

WHITE RIBBON - Sdlg D441, 2Y-R, Ben Hager

ROSE RIBBON -   Sdlg D441, 2Y-R, Ben Hager

On the left, Mini White, Kokopelli 7Y-Y, Bob Spotts
  On the right, Mini Gold and Mini Rose, Sdlg 15-86-1437,
(white N. cantabricus hybrid of petunoides form) Nancy Wilson

MINI GOLD RIBBON - 15-86-1437 10W-W, Nancy Wilson 

MINI WHITE RIBBON - Kokopelli 7Y-Y, Bob Spotts

MINI ROSE RIBBON -  Sdlg 15-86-1437, (white N. cantabricus hybrid of
petunoides form) Nancy Wilson

Intermediate Award -  Sdlg 99-48-1, 2W-WWP (Sophie Girl x Snipe),  Bob Spotts

Small Grower Award - Pops Legacy, 1W-Y,  Nancy Tackett

Historic Daffodil Award - Orange Queen 7O-O, Kirby Fong

Standard Container Grown Award - Falstaff 2Y-R,  Richard Hunt

Miniature Container Grown Award -  Tete-a-Tete 12Y-Y, Kirby Fong

Species Container Grown Award - N. bulbocodium nivalis 13Y-Y, Nancy Wilson

JUNIOR AWARD - Quail 7Y-Y, Miranda Fay

SILVER RIBBON (most blues) - Bob Spotts with 40 blue ribbons

PURPLE RIBBON -Bob Spotts -English Collection

• Glynde 2 (Burr)
• Tehidy 3 (Scamp)
• Clouded Yellow 2 (Pearson
• Magic Moment 3 (Postles)
• Aintree 3 (Williams)

Some of the miniatures exhibited.

LAVENDER RIBBON - Bob Spotts

• Junior Miss 12W-Y
• N. jonquilla 13Y-Y
• Kokopelli 7Y-Y
• Sundial 7Y-Y
• Moncorvo 7Y-Y

RED-WHITE-BLUE Ribbon - Sid DuBose

• E6-2, 2W-P
• T76-2, 2W-W
• S14-14, 2W-WWP
• E22-21, 2Y-YOO
• Geometrics, 2W-Y (DuBose)

GREEN RIBBON - Wayne Steele

• Homestead, 2W-W
• Mate, 2Y-O
• Creag Dubh, 2O-R
• Graffiti, 2W-YYO
• Williamsburg, 2W-W
• Loch More, 2Y-R
• Bouzouki, 2Y-R
• Castanets, 8Y-O
• Puppet, 5Y-O
• Lavalier, 5YYW-W
• Beryl, 6W-YYO
• Rapture, 6Y-Y

Roberta C. Watrous Award - Nancy Wilson (repeat)

• Elka 1W-W
• Wells 91/2065 7Y-Y (N. scaberulus x Soleil d'Or)
• Quince 12Y-Y
• N. assoanus 13Y-Y
• N. cyclamineus 13Y-Y
• Little Emma 6Y-Y
• Heidi 6Y-Y
• Snipe 6W-W
• 15-86-1437 10W-W (Miniature Rose Ribbon winner)
• N. bulbocodium 13Y-Y
• Fresh Season 10Y-Y
• Wells 91/1495 10W-W (N. triandrus x petunioides)

Quinn Award - Bob Spotts (repeat)

Our courtesy table manned by President Jan Moyers and Director Wayne Steele.

Comments from Bob Spotts, Show Chairman

The setting was nearly perfect and the weather was wonderful.   The result was a most pleasurable daffodil show and weekend in beautiful, unique surroundings!  The country vineyards setting had many thousands of naturalized daffodils blooming along the road to the winery and everywhere on the grounds. The buildings and grounds are intended to be the most beautiful winery complex in the State.  Good food and wine was available at the deli and tasting room in the building two levels above the show.

From left to right, Bob Spotts Show Chairman, John and Gail Kautz hosts for the Mother Lode Daffodil Show, Frank Rietvald a bulb supplier from   Netherlands, and Tom and Maureen Handley, NCDS members from England.

At the winery there were four hundred half-barrels of daffodils along the walkways. Each barrel had been brought to full bloom by the skilled winery's grounds staff (kudos to Tracey Ellifritz and Larry Ringland). These displays were so breathtaking many visitors thought these were the show and some never got to the show floor itself! Just try to visualize a barrel of 'Innovator 4O-O' with at least 50 blooms open in full color.

Some of the beautiful daffodils grown by winery grounds staff and displayed in the show area.

The show itself was staged on the winery (lower) working floor, in front of entry to the storage caves and next to the enormous fermenting tanks.  It was a very effective area for display. The area was cool and the flowers responded by maintaining their substance throughout both days. The exhibitors dressed warmly while staging and occasionally retreated to the numerous propane reflective heaters placed for the purpose. The coffee pots were continually replenished. Every need anticipated and provided by Chris Gomez of the KIV staff.

The awards area was on stage (to the left) above the show.

The Northern California Daffodil Society Show was an integral part of the KIV's Spring Festival of Daffodils and Wine. With good publicity and wine-tasting available, there were good crowds both days. On Saturday, the nearby town of Murphys held its annual Saint Patrick's Day celebration and a bus shuttled visitors between the town and winery.

Irish Days at Murphys

Of course, we heard over and over" "I never knew daffodils could look like these!"

The Calaveras County Wine Association provided bottles of wine as prizes to the winners. KIV supplied the NCDS exhibitors and volunteers with wine Friday evening and Saturday lunch. The support given by the winery staff was extraordinary.

Volunteer judges and clerks enjoying lunch provided by Kautz Ironstone Winery.  Show Chairman Bob Spotts in the foreground with President Jan Moyers to the left!

The cooperation and effort of NCDS members requires special mention.  Maureen and Tom Handley from London England (yes, England!), Nancy and Gene Cameron from Newberg Oregon, Jan Moyers of San Rafael CA, Jane and Rich  Hunt from Plymouth CA, Anna Rawls and Anna Fine from Livermore CA, Nancy Tackett from Martinez CA, Rich Nolette from Napa CA, Dian and Mike Keesee from Fortuna CA, and Stan Baird from Blue Lake CA - all came with few or no blooms from their own gardens and pitched in to stage the blooms brought from gardens in that were in bloom.

Gene and Nancy Cameron of Newberg Oregon with our host, Gail Kautz

As a result of their work the flowers of Sid DuBose and Ben Hager got their just rewards! This was especially meaningful because although his seedlings are having a spectacular year, Ben is in frail health and cannot transport flowers to the show or stage them. Ben is beaming at the results! Watch for future releases of Hager cultivars.

The Sierra foothills region surrounding Murphys is covered with naturalized daffodils from remnants of miners' and settlers' gardens from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lore Gates of Vallecito, a new member, brought a wonderful large bouquet of historic double flowers in excellent condition and health.  Our best guess is that they are 'Butter 'n' Eggs'. Others living in the foothills brought 'Van Sion' from naturalized clumps a century old!

Comments from ADS Show Chairman and NCDS Member
Kirby Fong

The Northern California Daffodil Society held its second show of this season last weekend at Kautz Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys, California.   Murphys is one of the little historic towns from the Gold Rush era of the Mother Lode country.

Murphys Hotel with shamrock painted at the intersection.

The winery at the vineyard is a very modern facility with banquet facilities, museum, and gift shop. Owner John Kautz loves daffodils and has planted thousands of them throughout the property and along the road sides. The public areas were decorated with countless containers of blooming daffodils. These were mostly 15 gallon cans, but there were some 5 gallon cans and some half barrels.  Most of these daffodils were garden varieties available in large quantities, but I did see one 5 gallon pot and one 15 gallon pot full of Innovator which Harold mentioned in his posting.

The daffodil show was located in the "cave" of the winery. This is the lowest floor where the fermentation tanks are. As the winery is built on a hillside, the cave is actually open to the outdoors on one side.  KIV was interested in having a daffodil show to complement their spring festival and provided us excellent logistical support.   If you couldn't attend this year's show, you should come in 2000 on March 18 and 19.  KIV is sponsoring the visit of a major daffodil personality. I won't steal Bob Spotts' thunder by telling you who it is, but I can assure you if you hadn't planned on coming, this will change your mind!

[Editor's Note: the featured guest for 2000 is ROD BARWICK of Tasmania who will be making his first visit overseas!]

Comments from visiting judge Harold Koopowitz, Irvine California

Saw some interesting flowers at the NCDS show last weekend. Among the most
memorable flowers was a very nice triandrus hybrid of Bob Spotts with 3 shapely O-O florets. Did not win anything because of a nick in the cup -but excellent quality. Bob also showed some of his viridliflorus hybrids including a large dark green petalled flower with a solid green cup and a narrow contrasting yellow rim.  Its petals are still a little narrow but it was a really stunning flower and a great breakthrough. Spotts told me he had flowered better things along those lines. One flower that the judges totally ignored but the laypeople really liked was a very large spidery flower of Bob's with a red cup and long narrow yellow petals that were slightly reflexed - it was also from viridiflorus and my guess is that the regular gardeners would have bought that as a bulb before purchasing the champion bloom.

Another stunning flower was Innovator, a new Dutch bulb, a 4O-R with petals are deep orange as any I had ever seen.  But I must admit that in my garden the flowers had come a buffy fawn color.  But up North they were spectacular and I did not recognize it for what it was.

Nancy Wilson showed a fine N. cantabricus hybrid rather like N. can. petuniodes but with slightly wider petals. It won the Miniature Rose ribbon. She also showed a remarkable N. cant. petuniodes x triandrus that Wells had made. Both were crystalline white flowers, the latter had aflared but slightly incurving cup.  Both will be high on my list of miniature wants.

Comments from visiting judge Steve Vinisky, Sherwood Oregon

One thing that I found outstanding and unique was the physical location of the Daffodil Show at Kautz Ironstone Vineyards. The "cave" Kirby's post mentioned serves as a wine aging room. As mentioned it is open to the air at one end. The "cave" is lined with two story high, stainless steel wine tanks that are kept at about 40 degrees ( some higher, some lower ). At one end is a large wall of wine barrels arranged in a traditional solera.  The inside of the walls have been finished to look like a cave sort of like at Disneyland.

The flowers were staged in a large open area which is subject to high traffic from the winery tours. The flowers in the show could not have had a better place to have been staged. The lighting is on the dim side but quite sufficient. The cool, constant temperature allowed every flower to "hold" at the peak of freshness. It was like staging a show in a giant florists cooler. Truly a privilege to stage flowers in such unusually ideal conditions. I bet that in this location, the show could run for a week from the flowers standpoint.

Applause to all the NCDS Members for developing a new Daffodil Show in what may be one of the most ideal settings I have ever seen!