About the American Daffodil Society

     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. Organized activity in the growing and showing of daffodils until then 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 g to be held at Chevy Chase, Maryland, on April 9, 1954. On that occasion the Society was voted into existence and temporary officers elected. The organization of the Society was completed on January 22. 1955, when the Board of Directors elected Carey E. Quinn, president; Willis H. Wheeler, secretary; and Mrs. William A. Bridges, treasurer. The Society was incorporated February 20, 1958.
     The first activity of the Society was a publication which over the years evolved from mimeographed sheets issued occasionally, through the small Daffodil Bulletin issued quarterly in conjunction with a yearbook, and into the Daffodil Journal, a greatly enlarged quarterly now accepted as the leading publication of daffodil news and views from around the world. In 1966, the Society edited, and the American Horticultural Society published as a special issue of its quarterly magazine, The Daffodil Handbook, an encyclopedic reference work on all aspects of the flower. Currently the Society published the Tom D. Throckmorton Daffodil Data Bank of the ADS and condensed version, Daffodils to Show and Grow, both of which list he classification of daffodils. The Illustrated Data Bank is also available on CD-ROM for both Macintosh and IBM formats.
     A special concern of the Society has been to encourage the showing of daffodils by offering incentives in the form of awards to be offered at shows conforming to standards established by the Society. To attain uniformity in judging, schools are held at different locations. The Society has led the way in obtaining recognition of the merits of miniature daffodils. Awards for Historic daffodils were offered or the first time to ADS shows in 1997.
     A committee annually selects an outstanding garden daffodil, and an outstanding exhibition daffodil.