Daffodils -- Fall Investment, Many Spring Returns

(ARA) - Gardeners -- start your spring color planning now because fall planting time is upon us. Here are three good reasons to add daffodils to your landscape planting schedule: First, there is a range and beauty in daffodils well beyond the traditional yellow trumpets you so often see along the roadways. Second, daffodils are great naturalizers that will flourish for many years with little care when planted in sunny, well drained flower beds. Finally, daffodils are deer and rodent resistant -- a major benefit for those of you struggling to garden in the presence of our tetrapoded friends. Simply put, daffodils are a good fall landscape investment providing many springs of beautiful returns.

Variety

Nearly 150 million Dutch daffodil bulbs are sold in the USA each year, and that amount has been growing six percent a year. Tim Schipper, a 3rd generation Dutch flower bulb merchant emphasizes that "the variety of color, size, shape and bloom times of daffodils is far greater than most gardeners know." According to The International Daffodil Register and Classified List published by the Royal Horticultural Society there are nearly 25,000 known varieties of daffodils. The fact is, however, that only 200 varieties are grown commercially and are generally affordable to residential and professional gardeners.

Top Daffodil Picks

If you are finding it hard to decide on a specific variety, Daffodil Depot is offering a special collection called the Daffodil 100. This unique assembly is a virtual encyclopedia of daffodils, which are also referred to as Narcissus or Jonquils, running the gamut of colors (from yellow to orange to pink to white) with different flower types and very early to late blooming varieties. According to Tim Schipper, "The Daffodil 100 offers gardeners the chance to experience 100 different varieties of daffodils during an 8 week pageant, which runs from late winter through late spring."

For those seeking a more traditional yellow trumpet daffodil, Schipper recommends choosing from among three varieties, which in his view are the "Gold Standard" among yellow daffodils. All three -- Marieke, Carlton and Golden Harvest -- represent the successors to the throne of the old time favorite King Alfred daffodil, a variety that has dwindled over the years. Marieke is a strong, graceful and long lasting bloomer. Carlton flowers later and is also suited to warmer zones, while Golden Harvest is a bright yellow trumpet, vigorous, and long lasting perennializer suitable for many garden uses.

If you are seeking other specific daffodil varieties, here is a quick rundown of some top recommendations. Among the cupped-division both Pimpernel (yellow with a tangerine nose) and Accent (an American bred pink cup) are among Schipper's favorites. More exotic is Delnashaugh (double flowering fluffy peach and cream) and Gay Kybo (orange and white peony-like blooms) from the double-division; and there's Thalia (a floriferous, orchid-like white) from the triandrus group. From the cyclamineous-narcissus he selects Jetfire (jaunty little reflexed petals with a long orange cup); and the multi-flowered Pipit (feint lemon yellow flowers with tiny white cups) from the jonquil group. A variety especially close to Schipper's heart is Sailboat, which he enthusiastically describes as "a flowering little gem with white, swept back petals and soft yellow nose." And finally there is Old Pheasant's Eye (flat, pure white flower with a minute yellow red-rimmed cup) of the poet's division as a big favorite because of its incredible sweet fragrance, its tolerance for some shade and it being the very last daffodil to flower in the garden.

Naturalizing

To bloom well, daffodils require well-drained soil and about six hours of afternoon spring sun. A basic working guideline is 4 bulbs per square foot planted 7 inches deep. If you are naturalizing daffodils, plant bulbs farther apart than you would do for garden plantings. This spacing gives room for increase. And be sure to plant them in drifts or shoals for a naturalistic effect.

The basic rules for getting many years of glorious spring returns from your daffodils are as follows:

1) Adequate sunlight -- Don't plant in full shade and always allow the foliage to die back naturally.

2) Good drainage -- Bulbs hate wet feet or any signs of standing water.

3) Plant deeply - This allows the roots to draw necessary moisture during the growing season, and . . .

4) Nutritious soil -- It pays to give them a sprinkling of bulb food in early spring during the growing cycle.

Under these circumstances, most daffodils will bloom and increase for many, many years.

Deer and Rodent Resistant

When deer are foraging and nibbling every garden plant you have, its reassuring to know that daffodils are about the last thing our four footed friends want to touch. The bulbs and foliage of daffodils contain lycorine and phenanthridine alkaloid crystals, which taste about as awful as they sound. Thankfully, deer memories are good enough to remember bad experiences. In most cases, after just a sniff or nibble, deer will walk away.

More Bang for the Buck

In daffodils, bulb size matters. Always go for a topsize or double nose bulb which will produce 2 or 3 flower stems rather than a smaller landscape grade of bulb, which may produce only one flower. After all, it takes just as much effort to plant a topsize bulb as a smaller bulb, so why waste the energy. The moral here is to buy daffodil bulbs based on the cost per flower rather than the cost per bulb. Given the delightful variety, natural durability and deer-resistance of daffodils, you're looking at many happy years of blooming returns.

You can find more information about daffodils by visiting www.daffodildepot.com or www.colorblends.com or call toll free (888) 847-8637 to request a Colorblends 2005 Wholesale Catalog.

Courtesy of ARA Content