My friend John Blanchard, who has died aged 92, was an expert on almost every aspect of the genus Narcissus, but particularly on the breeding, raising and introduction of miniature daffodils, whose flowers are less than 50mm across.
He was born at Wilverley, the family home in Blandford, Dorset, to Douglas, a solicitor, and Phyllis (nee Reade), a housewife. He attended Blandford grammar school and Bryanston school before going on to study law at Cambridge University. After national service with the Intelligence Corps (1948-50), he joined his father in the law firm Luff and Blanchard, where he practised until he retired in 2015.
His father was already a breeder of fine miniature daffodils and John began exhibiting and hybridising daffodils with him, before doing so alone from 1954. A key contribution he made was to enter all the miniature classes at Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) daffodil competitions and shows, despite almost always being the only entrant. This kept the miniature classes alive until they became fashionable many years later. He will be remembered in particular for a flower he named Crevette, as it was the first miniature that featured orange in its cup; hitherto all flowers of that ilk had been white, yellow or green.
John met Eve Burnard at a tennis club in Dorset where they both played tennis and badminton to county standard in the late 1950s. They married in 1961.
He joined what was then the RHS narcissus and tulip committee in 1965, and was its chairman from 1984 to 1994 and an honorary member of its successor, the bulb committee, until he died. For much of this period he was involved in the work of related committees dealing with Narcissus classification, show schedules, plant trials and the Daffodil, Snowdrop and Tulip Yearbook. He was also a member of the RHS council, and was awarded its highest accolade, the Victoria medal of honour in 1997. An active member of his local Alpine Garden Society (AGS), he was a well-known speaker and a respected judge of daffodils, other bulbs and alpines. In 2012, the AGS gave him the Kath Dryden award in recognition of his work.
He also made numerous hunting trips to Spain, Portugal, France and Morocco, the homes of species daffodils. They formed the basis of his book, Narcissus: A Guide to Wild Daffodils (1990).
In addition to his interest in horticulture, John was a railway enthusiast, acting as treasurer for the Great Dorset Steam Fair, as well as president of the Blandford Rotary Club.
Eve died in June 2022 and he is survived by his four sons, Peter, Daniel, Stephen and William, and five grandchildren.
