Daffodils

Springtime brings splashes of color that will surely chase away the winter blues; specifically the bright daffodil.  In my opinion, one can never have too many daffodils.

There are a huge array of colors and “faces” available and they are truly easy to grow and very easy to divide.  Some gardeners keep their daffodils in large groups, some, like me, love to plant them anywhere I can make a six-inch hole.  

I would strongly suggest that you invest in the best and biggest bulbs, and to keep a longer span of daffodil color, buy some early, mid-season and late bulbs.  In the northeast, the bulbs are planted in the fall.  I sprinkle a small amount of wood ash in the hole before covering the bulb and tamping down the ground. Cats and squirrels like to dig if the ground isn’t tamped down, I discovered one year.

In the spring, the bright green nubs of the daffodils will quickly come up once the snow is gone.  Don’t do a thing to them, other than watch their splendor.  I look around my yard to see where I want more and mark it, so that I can add bulbs there in the fall.

After the third year of a daffodil’s life, I disturb them a bit.  While they are still in bloom, I take a spade, deeply dig all around the cluster of plants and gently pull the entire bunch up.  I remove some of the bulbs, keeping the entire flower intact and separate the bulbs, leaving only two or three to go back into the hole. The ones I removed go quickly back into the ground elsewhere in my yard.  I’ve never lost a daffodil by doing it this way; the plants don’t even seem to notice the move. This is a very good way to expand on expensive fancy types of daffodils without paying the fancy price for the bulbs; another way is to find another person with varieties different from yours and making a swap.

After they start losing their beautiful flowers, I cut off the dead heads so that the energy will go back into the bulb.  I give them a bit of general garden fertilizer and some wood ash. In the fall, I cut the faded stems off and let them be until they once again bring Spring to my yard.