How to Plant Daffodils
Daffodils are the ultimate spring blooming perennial bulb
One of the easiest and most reliable flowers to bloom in the spring, they seem to do well in almost any environment and are our favorite spring bulb, .
Unlike tulips and hyacinths that are one of the choice plants to get eaten by deer, rabbits, voles and many other critters, daffodils don’t experience the same issues with animals wanting to eat them.
And unlike tulips and other spring blooming bulbs, they are also reliably perennial - producing flowers year after year and multiplying and naturalizing as well. They are very low maintenance - only requiring well draining soil and sun to do their thing - and will put on an excellent show for you in the spring with their cheery faces and light colors.
Daffodils Come in a Wide Range of Colors and Forms and Sizes
Most of us are familiar with the regular yellow ‘Dutch Masters’ daffodils that are the prototypical daffodil planted by landscapers, looking like little yellow teacups and saucers.
Personally, I love these bright yellow Dutch Masters - they are to me the essence of spring, and I look forward to their cheerful faces every year.
On the other hand, there are so many other different types and shapes and sizes of daffodils out there that I had no idea existed - all of them beautiful and unique. Some of them are delicately colored with light peach-pink tones, while others have overlapping layers of petals that remind me of ruffled petticoats and dresses, some of which even have a powerful and wonderful scent - much like lilies or garden roses or sweet peas!
Take for example these beautiful ‘February Gold’ daffodils. Known as a mini-daffodil - due to the diminutive size of the blooms that are barely an inch across from the ends of the petals - they are delicate and absolutely adorable, and a welcome addition to the garden, or in a planter, or even tucked into a bud vase.
Or these beautiful light-salmon ‘Pink Charm’ daffodils with their bright white petals and peachy interior
Or these lovely single-flowered, fragrant ‘Thalia’ daffodils - known as the ‘Orchid Narcissus’ due to its spidery appearance
Excited to grow some daffodils? Good news, they are super easy to plant and take care of!
HOW TO PLANT DAFFODILS
1. Daffodils need well draining soil - they’ll drown in soil that gets muddy and waterlogged - so try to plant them someplace where water either drains well or drains away readily (around trees for instance and the top of hills and beds are a good location). You can also amend the soil well with either organic matter or sharp sand to assist with drainage.
2. Daffodils require full sun - at least in the spring. Daffodils technically are a spring ephemeral, growing and blooming in the spring before a lot of other plants are actively growing and putting out foliage, which means that they can be planted in an area that is technically full sun during the early spring but may be full shade later on in the summer when the trees have all leafed out.
3. Plant out daffodils when the weather is consistently cold - around 30-40 F for a few hours. Dig holes (or trenches if you’re doing a lot of them) and plant the bulbs with their pointed side up, just 2-3” under the soil surface. We like to plant out our daffodils into clumps, with a spacing of 3” between each bulb. No amendments are usually needed, since daffodils naturally grow in rather poor soil.
4. If you are digging in a large volume of daffodils, you may want to look into digging a trench to place the bulbs into. Again, spacing the bulbs 2-3” apart with the pointed side up, you can plant a lot of bulbs into a trench very easily and very quickly this way.
5. . After planting, water them in well once and then let them sit for the winter season. We like to mark them with a label of some sort, just so that we don’t forget their location and variety/cultivar as well. They will start to poke their heads up in the spring as thick green blades.
6. Daffodils will start blooming on their own with no other assistance - they will just wait until the time and weather is right.
7. Daffodils can be harvested as a cut flower - some of the fancier varieties will not only have a wonderful visual appearance but have a wonderfully powerful scent as well. Wait until the flower bud has colored up and still pointed or drooping downward - known as the “gooseneck” stage, this will ensure you the longest vase life (of approximately a week or so).
Note that daffodil sap contains a toxic substance that causes other flowers in the same vase to wilt, which is why you don't often see daffodils mixed with other flowers in arrangements. To use them in mixed arrangements, simply let them rest in a separate container of water for 2-3 hours to let the cut ends of the stems “clot” over and then add them to the arrangement (knowing that if you have to recut the stem, you’ll have to go through the resting treatment again).
8. After your daffodils have finished blooming, leave the foliage in place - the leaves need to photosynthesize to provide energy for maintaining the bulb. Keep the foliage in place until it begins to die back and go crispy, at which point it can be removed.
Designing with Daffodils
First of all, see the comment above regarding the sap from daffodils - make sure that the stems aren’t leaking any sap anymore. And if you need to make a cut, let it clot and be clean of sap before inserting it back into the arrangement.
I really just love daffodils on their own - singly, or as a solid bunch in a vase, because at the time of year when daffodils bloom, they don’t need much else and can be enjoyed on their own. Placed into a bud vase, their cheery little faces are a welcome sight in the early spring.
If you’re mixing them into arrangements, I find that they mix in very well with spring blooms - tulips, ranunculus, anemones, poppies, fritillaries, muscari, the usual suspects. Or, if you’re mixing them with the standard