Daffodil Planting Notes
DAFFODIL PLANTING NOTES FROM DUNLUCE, APRIL 5th
Behind the many waves of white, yellow, orange and blue (violets), Laura Anne likes to plant thick garden rows of bright red tulips to catch April sunshine and make mischief for the eyes!
APRIL is the time to mark your tight clumps of daffodils that need dividing--and the thin, sparse ones that don't bloom--for digging in June when the foliage dies. Remember to work with a lifting fork on a cool summer morning.
LIFTED BULBS go right back in the ground in summer, using "prepared soil" and remembering to leave six to eight of the large "mother bulbs" where the clump was originally. Take the babies to new-ground and plant them away from the parent. Dry lifted bulbs in summer air under the shade of a big tree for two to three days. Examine for firmness before planting. Cover the mother and babies with the same "prepared soil." Many daffodil folks dry their bulbs in summer and plant in early fall. Here in Virginia, mold is a common problem with this practice and a hot-water bath is something too complicated to go into here--unless you want to go into mass cultivation.
"PREPARED SOIL" is a mixture of 80% garden loam mixed with 10% Green Sand and 10% Alfalfa meal that can be mixed/substituted with leaf-compost. Add kitty-litter-clay product to very sandy soil; add gypsum to clay-loam. Using a rotary tiller, prepare the soil, mounding it in a bed that is at least 14" to 18" above ground level. Difficult, sandy soils can be held off ground using timber siding. For miniature bulbs, soft soil is a must, and a teaspoon can be used for planting. Plant standard bulbs with a bulb-spade to the depth of three times the height times the width of the bulb. (Sounds like you're going to make a flower arrangement!)
MULCH with pine needles and/or oak leaves after TOPDRESSING with Bulb Tone. Daffodils DO NOT LIKE NITROGEN. USE NO MANURE but potash is a favorite for this acid-loving plant.
FERTILIZE in early spring, late January or early February when two inches of foliage shows above ground. Toss Bulb Tone over the foliage just before a rain or snow. Narcissus love cold weather and bloom longer during cool springs. Snow is good for them!
WATER is the main ingredient needed for bloom in spring: narcissi need plenty of water from early November, when we plant purchased bulbs in our area, through the entire growing season to early June.
LEAVE FOLIAGE until it turns yellow. Do not let lawn-mower-guys cut down your foliage or you will never get a bloom. The foliage is the meat and potatoes for flower production. To make stronger bulbs, deadhead spent blooms. If they set seed on you, plant a few of the little black seed in a flower pot filled with "prepared soil" and grit. Green grass will appear by fall. It will take three years for your first, open-pollinated bloom--once the pot is protected in a shady spot or cool green house. If you like what you see, you can register the little thing with RHS (The Royal Horticultural Society) in England--you are on your way to hybridizing...that is, if they like it....
BASIL ROT and viruses come from watering in the summer months when daffodils need to dry out completely. It is a scourge of the gardening world that Dutch-fast-grown-bulbs hit the American market in fall, the size of oranges. The first year the flowers are enormous. The second year, not so great. The third year, gone! Pressured hybridization and chemical-cloning, plus overhead sprinklers in American flower beds are the main causes of basil rot and spreading viruses. Purchase novelty flowers for shows from quality growers who grow their own flowers and show them too. Dig your beloved bulbs in three-year rotations and keep them from disappearing, forgetting about those big-sucker-fruits at flower market. The little guys produce the prize winning ribbons every time. Plus, what's not to love about smaller daffodils in flower arrangements?
(Courtesy Laura Anne Brooks)
Behind the many waves of white, yellow, orange and blue (violets), Laura Anne likes to plant thick garden rows of bright red tulips to catch April sunshine and make mischief for the eyes!
APRIL is the time to mark your tight clumps of daffodils that need dividing--and the thin, sparse ones that don't bloom--for digging in June when the foliage dies. Remember to work with a lifting fork on a cool summer morning.
LIFTED BULBS go right back in the ground in summer, using "prepared soil" and remembering to leave six to eight of the large "mother bulbs" where the clump was originally. Take the babies to new-ground and plant them away from the parent. Dry lifted bulbs in summer air under the shade of a big tree for two to three days. Examine for firmness before planting. Cover the mother and babies with the same "prepared soil." Many daffodil folks dry their bulbs in summer and plant in early fall. Here in Virginia, mold is a common problem with this practice and a hot-water bath is something too complicated to go into here--unless you want to go into mass cultivation.
"PREPARED SOIL" is a mixture of 80% garden loam mixed with 10% Green Sand and 10% Alfalfa meal that can be mixed/substituted with leaf-compost. Add kitty-litter-clay product to very sandy soil; add gypsum to clay-loam. Using a rotary tiller, prepare the soil, mounding it in a bed that is at least 14" to 18" above ground level. Difficult, sandy soils can be held off ground using timber siding. For miniature bulbs, soft soil is a must, and a teaspoon can be used for planting. Plant standard bulbs with a bulb-spade to the depth of three times the height times the width of the bulb. (Sounds like you're going to make a flower arrangement!)
MULCH with pine needles and/or oak leaves after TOPDRESSING with Bulb Tone. Daffodils DO NOT LIKE NITROGEN. USE NO MANURE but potash is a favorite for this acid-loving plant.
FERTILIZE in early spring, late January or early February when two inches of foliage shows above ground. Toss Bulb Tone over the foliage just before a rain or snow. Narcissus love cold weather and bloom longer during cool springs. Snow is good for them!
WATER is the main ingredient needed for bloom in spring: narcissi need plenty of water from early November, when we plant purchased bulbs in our area, through the entire growing season to early June.
LEAVE FOLIAGE until it turns yellow. Do not let lawn-mower-guys cut down your foliage or you will never get a bloom. The foliage is the meat and potatoes for flower production. To make stronger bulbs, deadhead spent blooms. If they set seed on you, plant a few of the little black seed in a flower pot filled with "prepared soil" and grit. Green grass will appear by fall. It will take three years for your first, open-pollinated bloom--once the pot is protected in a shady spot or cool green house. If you like what you see, you can register the little thing with RHS (The Royal Horticultural Society) in England--you are on your way to hybridizing...that is, if they like it....
BASIL ROT and viruses come from watering in the summer months when daffodils need to dry out completely. It is a scourge of the gardening world that Dutch-fast-grown-bulbs hit the American market in fall, the size of oranges. The first year the flowers are enormous. The second year, not so great. The third year, gone! Pressured hybridization and chemical-cloning, plus overhead sprinklers in American flower beds are the main causes of basil rot and spreading viruses. Purchase novelty flowers for shows from quality growers who grow their own flowers and show them too. Dig your beloved bulbs in three-year rotations and keep them from disappearing, forgetting about those big-sucker-fruits at flower market. The little guys produce the prize winning ribbons every time. Plus, what's not to love about smaller daffodils in flower arrangements?
(Courtesy Laura Anne Brooks)
