Daffodils delight the gardener’s heart after a long winter.
Even when the frost and snow rubs daffodil noses in the mud, a bit of warmth and sun sees them standing back up.
Disease-free
They are not prone to diseases and have a penchant for multiplying. Plant a few each year and before long your garden will have swathes of daffodils heralding spring. Plant a number of varieties and your show will last for six weeks or longer.
What to do with the foliage
The only draw back to daffodils lies in what to do with their masses of strap leaves while the bulb ripens in the spring. The leaves must be left alone, not cut off or tied up, until fully ripe and turning brown. They have been known to smother small transplanted annual plugs in my garden.
Placement
The large variety daffodils should probably not be used as a front of the border plant for this reason. It is easier to hide the dying foliage behind perennials like daylilies and other robust perennials. The perennials are barely peaking through the ground at blossoming time. But they grow quickly and will hide the lopping foliage in early June.
Culture
These bulbs are planted in late September and October, but can be planted as early as late August if you can find them. The instructions, which come with most daffodils, recommend planting at 5- to 6-inches from the shoulder of the plant. I would suggest an inch deeper, particularly if you have sandy soil. Place them about three times their own diameter from each other to give adequate room for multiplying.
Daffodils arrive fully dormant. Once planted, the bulb will put out root growth and start top growth which waits patiently for spring warmth to finish growing out.
Fertilization
Plant your daffodils in an amended soil with either a bulb fertilizer, which will have a large amount of phosphate, or a dose of 5-10-5 fertilizer.
Catagories
Daffodils are classified into a dozen categories: trumpet, large-cupped, small-cupped, double, triandrus, cyclamineus, jonquilla, tazetta, poeticus, species and wild forms, split coronas and miscellaneous.
Trumpets
Trumpets are described as having a corona (the cup shape) as long as or longer than the perianth petals and are hardy to USDA Zone 3.
Large-cupped Narcissi
The large-cupped narcissi have a corona that is large, ruffled and colorfully edged and is hardy to Zone 3.
Small-cupped Narcissi
Small-cupped narcissi have a corona that is not more that one-third the length of their perianth petals and are hardy to Zone 3.
Tazetta
Tazetta are a multi-flowering strain of bulbs with several stems per bulb and are hardy to Zone 5.
Double Narcissi
Double narcissi have a double corona that is very ruffled and are hardy to Zone 3.
Poeticus Narcissi
Poeticus narcissi have very white perianth petals with small dainty coronas in a contrasting eye. ‘Pheasant’s Eye’ belongs to this class and they are hardy to Zone 3.
Jonquilla
Jonquilla have slender foliage and bear two to six flowers per stalk and are hardy to USDA Zone 5.
Cyclamineus
Cyclamineus are known for their reflexing flower petals and are hardy to Zone 3.
Triandrus
Triandrus bear two or more pendulant flowers per stem and are hardy to Zone 4.
Split Coronas
Split coronas are ruffled and show individual petal parts and are hardy to Zone 4.
Species
Species can be quite small and have almost no perianth petals. They are hardy to Zone 4.
Recommendations
I recommend not purchasing a mix of bulbs because their staggered bloom is unimpressive. Do buy small numbers of each variety.
