Most of what there is to know about how to grow daffodils comes down to a handful of decisions taken on the day the bulb goes in the ground. After that they largely look after themselves, which is the great virtue of the genus, but the gap between a clump that fades out in four years and one that is still thickening in twenty is settled at planting. These are those decisions.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT BULB
The first question in how to grow daffodils well is which bulb to buy, and there is a reason the same variety can cost twice as much from one supplier as another. Summer holidays here were once spent grading daffodils into five planting sizes, from toppers all the way down to large rounds and chips, and while the larger bulbs produce more flowers and have the potential to double year on year, chips and large rounds can take up to three years to bulk up and produce satisfactory flowers. Size is not vanity.
We would always advise buying the best bulbs you can, and looking on daffodils in particular as an investment. The late Fred Whitsey put the question to the test for the Telegraph, growing batches of ten from different suppliers at different prices, and while flower counts ranged from ten up to twenty six, the real separation came the year after, when some batches doubled and others barely held their own. Increase is what counts.
WHEN TO PLANT
Late September to the end of October is the window. Plant then and the soil has cooled enough to hold pests and disease in check while still carrying enough warmth for the roots to get properly away, which is the whole trick, since a daffodil that roots well in October is a daffodil that flowers well in March. Later is possible.
Bulbs can be planted later, but they must have been stored properly. Bulbs kept in a heated shop will likely be dead by the end of November, and end of season bargains are rarely that, which is worth remembering when the garden centre marks them down in the second week of December. Daffodils first, then hyacinths, then tulips.
HOW DEEP TO PLANT
For tulips we would always err on the shallower side, but not for daffodils. Daffodil bulbs vary greatly in size because of the many varieties available, so as a rule they should be planted at a depth twice their size, and where you are unsure, go deep. Shallow planting is one of the main reasons for daffodils growing blind.
12 to 15cm of soil on top of the bulb (5 to 6 inches) will suit almost everything. Space them about twice the bulb’s own width apart, which is 10 to 15cm for most grades. Planting depths are a general guide only and can be adjusted depending on your soil, shallower for heavy ground and deeper for light sandy soils, so treat the figure as a starting point rather than a rule.
HOW TO GROW DAFFODILS IN THE BORDER
Aspect decides more than soil does. A daffodil will grow in almost anything that is not waterlogged, but it will not tolerate sitting wet, and dappled shade will hold the flowers in good condition noticeably longer than full exposure will. Sun for increase, light shade for length of display.
Given their diversity they are suited to all soil types, but they will not tolerate being waterlogged. Dappled shade will keep the flowers fresh for as long as possible, and they will benefit from digging in good garden compost before planting, with plenty of leaf mould and a top dressing of bonemeal after planting and again in February. That February feed is the one people skip.
When planning your borders, remember the structure of our gardens is different at the beginning of spring. Many of the trees and shrubs are yet to make leaf and the garden generally has a more open feel, so a position that looks shaded in July may be perfectly bright in March, when the daffodil actually needs it. Plan for the season, not for now.
Trumpet. The classic golden daffodil, and as dependable as they come.
Large cupped. Opens lemon, fades to cream, and increases quickly.
Double. Gold with orange red through the centre, on a stem that holds it up.
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HOW TO GROW DAFFODILS IN GRASS
Grass is not an easy place to be a bulb. It competes for water and for feed all summer, so plant the best bulbs you have and put them at the full depth rather than tucking them under the turf, and lift a flap of grass with a spade instead of using a planter, which is quicker for a drift of any size. Then tread it back down.
We are not fans of throwing the bulbs over your shoulder and planting them where they land to achieve a natural look. Rather, lay out overlapping drifts of a few varieties, marking the shapes with sand before you start, which takes ten minutes and is the difference between a planting that reads as deliberate and one that reads as scattered. Random rarely looks random.
Cyclamineus. Swept back petals, very early, and it settles into grass readily.
Triandrus. Two or three nodding white flowers to a stem, and content in light shade.
Poeticus. Late, white, with a small red rimmed eye and a carrying scent.
HOW TO GROW DAFFODILS IN POTS AND CONTAINERS
Daffodils are ideal for containers, especially the smaller varieties. We see pots of bulbs being offered everywhere in the spring, often poor quality, expensive prices and never enough bulbs in the pot. It is very easy to plant your own in the autumn, either directly into the container or into pots that you sink into containers once growth starts to emerge.
Planted in pots they should be placed in a cold frame or in the open, covered with a thin layer of bulb fibre or compost while their roots develop, and they require only minimal moisture until growth starts to appear, whereupon they should be kept evenly moist. Then do not let them dry out. Once they dry out and lean over, no amount of resuscitating water will save them.
An early display in a container can be moved into the garden after flowering. It is a very effective way to build your own collection of some of the most outstanding cultivars, and planting baskets are useful for exactly this, since they let you lift the whole group without hunting for individual bulbs. The pot becomes a nursery.
The one everybody knows, and still the best short daffodil for a pot.
Tazetta. Several small flowers to a stem on a plant barely knee high to the rest.
Clusters of lemon flowers on an early little daffodil that keeps going for weeks.
A NOTE ON SCENT
Among the spring bulbs the earlier flowering varieties tend to be the most scented. For them scent is vital in attracting pollinators, and you may notice it grows stronger as the flowers start to go over, which is the opposite of what most people expect. Outside, you need generous drifts to make an impact.
A word of caution about bringing them indoors. We all have a different perception of scent, and a flower may have a pleasing scent from a distance but be unpleasant close to or in great concentration, which is typically true of narcissi in large quantities indoors and especially noticeable as the flowers begin to fade. One vase, not five.
Tazetta. Clustered double flowers and a heavy, sweet scent.
Jonquilla. Lemon fading to white, and the sweetest of the small daffodils.
The latest of all, and the one whose scent carries furthest on a still evening.
AFTER FLOWERING
Deadhead after flowering, and let the foliage discolour. All of your spring bulbs are still growing even when flowering has finished, so leave removing the foliage until it has died back, and a foliar feed at this stage is a good idea because it goes straight into the leaf that is building next year’s flower. Most of how to grow daffodils that come back is decided in these six weeks.
Where they have been undisturbed for four or five years they will benefit from lifting and division. Large clumps competing for water and nutrients can lead to a lack of flowers and bulbs coming up blind, and as a bonus you get to increase your stocks. Lift when the ground is damp.
Lift the clump whole if you can, avoiding damage to the roots, then tease the bulbs apart by hand keeping as much soil and root structure as possible. Replant singly at two bulb widths apart, at the same depth as before, which the bulb tells you itself with the change in stem colour from green to white. Small seedlings go back in clusters.
WHAT CAN GO WRONG WHEN YOU GROW DAFFODILS
Blindness is the usual complaint, and it has two causes. Shallow planting is the first and the commonest, and congestion is the second, which is why a clump that flowered well for four years and then stopped is telling you it wants lifting rather than feeding. Both are fixable.
Most of us face an annual battle with bulb predators. Targets are the sweeter bulbs such as tulips and crocus, whereas their sour accompaniments, daffodils and scilla, are left undisturbed, so a daffodil planting is one of the few you can put in and walk away from. Squirrels will dig elsewhere.
Bulb fly is the other thing worth knowing about. The fly’s larvae does the damage, once they hatch they burrow into the base of the bulb feeding on the layers of the bulb meant for growing the flowers. So a clump that throws up a few thin grassy leaves and no flower has been hollowed rather than starved, and firming the soil around the plants after flowering makes it harder for the fly to lay.
PLANT THESE WITH YOUR DAFFODILS
Daffodils are stunning underplanted with Muscari, and for scent, Hyacinths are unrivalled. Crown imperials are the most exotic of the spring bulbs and go well in a mixed border with daffodils, standing head and shoulders above them at the back where the daffodils cover their bare lower stems. Tulips then follow as the daffodils fade.
Underplant beneath them
For scent in the border
Take over in late April
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