Growing Great Daffodils

Fall & Winter Garden Tasks

Replace tired petunias with bright pansies, snapdragons, calendulas, and stock for garden color this fall and winter. Plant cover crops in areas of the garden that have finished producing for the summer. Crimson clover and fava beans will grow over the winter and enrich the soil for next year.

It’s time to divide overgrown perennials that bloomed in the spring or early summer. It’s also a good time to choose and plant some new varieties. Apples, pears, and other fruit trees can be planted in the fall from containers to get a head start on next spring. Mums are the beauties of the fall garden—choose plants now in a wide variety of colors.

Growing Great Daffodils

Daffodils are some of the easiest bulbs to grow. Under good conditions, they will live for many years and likely outlast any of us. While some bulbs dwindle and die out, daffodils increase. Daffodils, Narcissi, Jonquils, and Paperwhites are all members of the genus Narcissus.

Types of Daffodils

• Trumpet Daffodils: Feature the “traditional” daffodil form with one large blossom per stem and an exceptionally long trumpet. They have a long blooming season and very large flowers, making them excellent for naturalizing. The well-known ‘King Alfreds’ have largely been replaced by better varieties like ‘Dutch Master,’ an heirloom introduced in 1938 and now the standard yellow trumpet daffodil.
• Long Cup Daffodils: Offer a full color range—white, yellow, pink, orange, and red—and come in varied cup shapes (ruffled, trumpet-like, or flat). They are ideal for beds, borders, cut flowers, and indoor forcing.

Planting & Care

• Choose a well-drained, sunny spot. Hillsides, creek-sides, shrub borders, woodland gardens, and raised beds work well, but drainage is key.
• Spade soil at least twelve inches deep, adding well-rotted compost to heavy soils.
• For naturalized bulbs left undisturbed for years, plant deeply with tops at least eight inches deep.
• Daffodils thrive in the shade of deciduous trees (they bloom before trees leaf out) but avoid planting under evergreens or within the drip line of trees.
• Daffodils are pest-resistant—squirrels, gophers, rodents, and deer typically avoid them.

Maintenance

• After blooming (a six-week season), leave foliage until it yellows to rebuild the bulb for next year. Fertilize during this period.
• If bulbs become crowded and bloom poorly, dig them up in midsummer and replant six inches apart.
• Daffodils pair well with shallow-rooted ground covers like potentilla, creeping thyme, and blue star creeper but struggle with vigorous, deep-rooted plants like rosemary and ivy.

Plant a variety of daffodils now for a stunning spring display and beautiful cut flowers.