Double Daffodils Of Garden Origin

Double daffodils of garden origin is the 4th division of the 13 types of daffodils.The term "daffodils of garden origin" simply means that the flower is a hybrid of a narcissus flower that was bred in the garden as opposed to a wild form.

The daffodils in most of the other 12 divisions have double forms and new ones are being developed by breeders every year. However, since the parentage of so many of the double daffodils has been lost over time all of the double narcissus forms are now assigned to the same division.

Once you are able to identify all the different types of narcissus flowers you can usually figure out which family a double daffodil comes from. For example, the double form of a trumpet daffodil flower will still have one large flower to a stem. Double tazetta daffodils will have a cluster of smaller blossoms.

Double Daffodil Probems

Some gardeners don't bother with double daffodils because they can be somewhat fussy to grow and the flowers often fall victim to spring weather extremes. Indeed,they can be challenging to grow,especially where spring weather tends to be warm and rainy.

For the most part double daffodils are late blooming and this is where much of the difficulty in growing them occurs. The flowers of the large double varieties tend to be to heavy for their stems and will fall over in the slightest rain or wind.

Double daffodil flowers are also susceptible to a problem known as blasting. This basically means the flowers dry up before they've had a chance to open. This problem is usually weather related and more common in late blooming double daffodils. For more information about the problems of growing double daffodils see my spring posts What Causes Daffodil Flower Blasting? and The Trouble With Double Daffodil Flowers.

Choosing The Best Double Daffodil For Your Garden

The good news is that if you choose carefully you can probably find at least one double daffodil that will grow and bloom in your garden. In general late blooming doubles will fare better in Northern gardens and earlier blooming doubles are better for the south.

If you'd like to try some of the fancier large double daffodils you may want to use some type of support to keep them from falling over in harsh spring weather. Stakes or circular grid supports that the plants can grow through will work fine.

For southern gardens,the late blooming double daffodils with large flowers are not the best choice. For hot climates choose early bloomers like Bridal Crown,which has clusters of small flowers and blooms early.

Northerners will do better growing the late blooming large doubles and if your budget allows you can try some of the more expensive bulbs like Rose of May(a very old double poeticus) or Golden Ducat(a double yellow trumpet).

Double Daffodil Mixture
This mixture of double daffodil bulbs is a good sampler of late blooming types. If you'd like to grow double daffodils but can't decide on a variety,this would be a good choice. If you live south of USDA Zone 6 the narcissus bulbs below would be a better choice for your garden.

Yellow Cheerfulness Double Daffodil
Cheerfulness has been sold by name since the 1920s and is one of the ancient types of daffodils called "poetaz,"meaning they are a hybrid of narcissus tazetta and narcissus poeticus. Cheerfulness also comes in a white form which is thought to be very old but wasn't registered by the name of Cheerfulness until the 1920s. Yellow Cheerfulness was introduced in 1937. It does well through Zone 8 and some coastal gardeners have claimed success with this lovely late blooming double daffodil.

Stay tuned for Division 5.