Daffodil

Plant Type: Bulb
Uses: Fragrance, Border, Cutting Bed,
Naturalizer, Container, Indoors
Propagation: Seeds, Division
Habit: Upright, Clump
Light: Full Sun, Part Shade
Flower Color: Yellow, White
Blooms: Spring
Width: .25 ft.; Height: .5 - 1.25 ft
Fertility: Moderately Rich, Average
Soil: Neutral, Well-drained
Zone: USDA Hardiness 3-9, AHS Heat 9-2

Las Vegas

Many species and varieties commonly called narcissus, daffodil or jonquil. This is a very large genus of spring-flowering bulbs and certainly one of the world's most popular. There is an amazing amount of variation in bloom forms and colors, making this a versatile and satisfying choice for the early spring garden. The daffodil has been used to naturalize as in a meadow garden or for more formal settings as in a perennial border. An excellent cut flower with a clean, sweet fragrance. Given a minimum of care, most kinds not only will endure in a garden for many years but will increase abundantly each growing season.

Much of the confusion over names in the Narcissus genus results from extensive interbreeding, which has obliterated many of the differences that used to separate the plants. All may correctly be called narcissuses. The name daffodil applies primarily to the types with large trumpet-shaped flowers, but has come to be commonly used for all members of the genus. The name jonquil originally applied only to the species N. jonquilla but is now used for all its descendants.

Narcissuses are among the most useful of bulbs, filling all garden needs. The low-growing types do well in rock-garden niches. All are excellent for cutting, and trumpet and tazetta types are among the most satisfactory of all bulbs for winter bloom indoors.

Narcissuses are classified into 11 basic types in a system established by the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain and followed by bulb growers throughout the world. Plant heights vary from 3 inches for the smallest types to nearly 2 feet for the largest ones, with a wide range included in most classifications. Similarly, flower sizes range from less than 1 inch to more than 3 inches across.

All narcissuses can remain in the ground over winter in Zones 4-10 except for the tazetta types, which are hardy only in Zones 8-10, and the petticoat, cyclamen-flowered, graceful, and rush-leaved daffodils, which are hardy only in Zones 6-10. All grow well in full sun or the light shade of deciduous trees.

Plant the bulbs as soon as possible after they become available in late summer, before the ground freezes and hardens in the fall--the earlier the bulbs are planted, the better roots they will make in preparation for the nourishment of next spring's blossoms. Large-flowered types should be set 6 to 8 inches apart, smaller varieties proportionately closer. Set the bulbs three times as deep as their diameter, measuring not to the tip of the bulb, but where the tip swells to form a shoulder; large bulbs may have to be covered with 5 to 6 inches of soil, smaller species with only 3 inches. Apply bone meal at a rate of 5 to 6 pounds to each 100 square feet of bed area, and work it into the soil before setting the bulbs. Where bulbs are planted amidst grass rather than in beds, work a teaspoonful of bone meal into each hole. When the shoots appear in spring apply a dusting of bone meal around the plants.

Narcissuses grown as house plants do best in bright indirect or curtain-filtered sunlight while in blossom; night temperatures should be as cool as possible (40° to 45° is ideal) and day temperatures should be 68° or lower. Trumpet and hardy tazetta varieties are generally bought in pots when already in bud; they bloom in winter and spring. Tender tazettas or paperwhites are usually sold unpotted as dry bulbs and should be set shallowly in pebbles, pearl chips or coarse sand, so that only their bases are anchored. Keep the growing medium moist without letting the water reach the bulb base; do not fertilize. Set the bulbs in a cool, dark place until new growth is about 4 inches tall, then expose them to the light gradually to bloom. Discard tender tazettas after they flower. The bulbs of trumpet and hardy tazetta types can be set outdoors after the leaves have yellowed, and will bloom normally in spring.

Propagate garden-grown narcissuses after bloom from the small bulbs that develop around the larger ones. Divide crowded clumps every 3 to 5 years.

© The Estate of Cicely Mary Barker

THE SONG OF
THE NARCISSUS FAIRY

Brown bulbs were buried deep;
Now, from the kind old earth,
Out of the winter's sleep,
Comes a new birth!

Flowers on stems that sway;
Flowers of snowy white;
Flowers as sweet as day,
After the night.

So does Narcissus bring
Tidings most glad and plain:
"Winter's gone; here is Spring--
Easter again!"

from "Flower Fairies of the Garden"
by Cicely Mary Barker

THE SONG OF
THE DAFFODIL FAIRY

I'm everyone's darling: the blackbird and starling
Are shouting about me from blossoming boughs;
For I, the Lent Lily, the Daffy-down-dilly,
Have heard through the country the call to arouse,
The orchards are ringing with voices a-singing
The praise of my petticoat, praise of my gown;
The children are playing, and hark! they are saying
That Daffy-down-dilly is come up to town!

from "Flower Fairies of the Spring"
by Cicely Mary Barker