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Introduction
The American Daffodil Society (ADS) was founded in 1954 to promote wider interest in
daffodils; to encourage scientific research and education on daffodil culture, breeding,
diseases, pests, exhibiting, and testing; to encourage, coordinate, and sponsor shows and
exhibitions of daffodils; to record and disseminate horticultural information about
daffodils and issue publications for such purpose; and to register daffodil varieties and
standardize their names in cooperation with international authorities. To that end, the
ADS publishes quarterly The Daffodil Journal, an 80-page magazine that covers all aspects
of daffodil culture, breeding, and exhibition.
As of September 2008, the ADS has 1442 members in 47 states and in a variety of countries including, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Holland, Germany, Hungary,
Argentina, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Norway, Poland, South Korea, and Sweden. The ADS
cooperates with The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) by accepting and forwarding registrations
for new daffodil cultivars from American registrants. The ADS publishes several books that
list and describe registered daffodil cultivars, including Daffodils to Show and Grow,
which is updated approximately every four years.
Dues are $20 annually payable on July 1st of each year and includes a subscription to the quarterly publication, The
Daffodil Journal. Dues are payable in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. The ADS has a credit card facility and to find out more, look at this Join web page.
History
The genesis of The American Daffodil Society was an article entitled "Who will Join a
Daffodil Society?" which Paul Frese, then editor of Popular Gardening, published in
the October, 1953, issue of that magazine. Until then, organized activity in the growing and
showing of daffodils was confined to the Maryland Daffodil Society, the Garden
Club of Virginia, and the Washington Daffodil Society. More than 400 responses were
received and turned over to these groups to proceed with the details of creating a
national society. A call went out to those who had expressed their interest to
attend an organizational meeting to be held at Chevy Chase, Maryland, on April 9,
1954. On that occasion, the American Daffodil Society was voted into existence and temporary
officers elected. The Society's organization was completed on January 22.
1955, when the Board of Directors elected Carey E. Quinn, President; Willis H. Wheeler,
Secretary; and Mrs. William A. (Serena) Bridges, Treasurer. The American Daffodil Society was incorporated on
February 20, 1958.
The first activity of the ADS was to develop a publication. Over the years, this
evolved from mimeographed sheets issued occasionally, through the small Daffodil Bulletin. The Bulletin was issued quarterly in conjunction with a yearbook. Today, the quarterly publication, The Daffodil Journal, is greatly enlarged with beautiful color photographs and articles contributed by international daffodil enthusiasts. The Daffodil Journal is now
accepted as the leading publication of daffodil news and views from around the world.
In 1964, the ADS edited its Journal, and the American
Horticultural Society published the Daffodil Handbook as a special issue of its quarterly
magazine. The Daffodil Handbook is an encyclopedic reference work on all aspects of the
flower.
In 2006, the ADS launched a new Internet resource known as DaffSeek (daffseek.org). DaffSeek is an Internet query system and has information for more than 18,000 named daffodils and over 15,000 photos of many of these varieties. The ADS and RHS work together in partnership to maintain both organizations' information systems.
Officers
President:
First Vice President:
Second Vice President:
Secretary:
Treasurer: |
Becky Fox Matthews, Tennessee
Harold Koopowitz, California
Michael Berrigan, Minnesota
Sally Nash, Massachusetts
Rod Armstrong, Texas |
Goals:
- To actively promote, in a variety of ways, increased public awareness and appreciation of the daffodil as an important plant.
- To embrace all types of daffodil hobbyists, and to continually recruit new daffodil enthusiasts in order to maintain a healthy organization. To create more daffodil hobbyists of all kinds.
- To serve gardeners' needs to learn more about all aspects of growing daffodils.
- To actively encourage improvements in daffodil breeding by both amateur and professional breeders.
- To create more public exhibits of daffodils, both shows and public plantings.
- To provide information interchange among daffodil enthusiast, and to serve as a conduit for information between isolated groups, both nationally and internationally. Document daffodil information to prevent its loss.
- To set standards for daffodil shows and judges; to continue to improve the quality of judging in shows.
- To provide registration of new cultivars, and to work with international authorities on matters of daffodil classification.
- To provide financial security consistent with all tax laws pertaining to 501 (c) 3 organizations.
- To promote and encourage scientific research on the genus Narcissus.
For more information
please contact
American Daffodil Society Executive Director
Jaydee Ager
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