Time To Plan Your 2010 Daffodil Garden: Part 1

Believe it or not,it's time to start planning your 2010 daffodil garden. Here in Northeast Alabama,the daffodil season is half over already. The last of the white trumpets are finishing up and the triandrus and tazetta daffodils are in full bloom. The jonquillas are just beginning to produce buds and will bloom until the end of April and then the daffodil season will be over.

If you live in the north your season is probably just beginning but it's still the perfect time to begin planning next year's garden. In this series of posts I'm going to take you through some steps you can take to optimize the daffodil plantings you already have and help you to have an even better garden next spring.

How Are Your Daffodils Growing?

The first step in planning next year's flower garden is to evaluate the plants that you already have and take note of what's going well and what needs improvement. Take about an hour sometime this week and take a walk through your garden. Bring a small notebook and pen and your camera.

Writing down what you see now will save you from trying to remember everything that's going on in the spring when planting time rolls around again in autumn.

Some of the questions you need to ask yourself when doing this little exercise are :

* Are my daffodils doing well where they've been planted?

* Are they getting enough sun?

* Are they blooming well?

* Have they become crowded?

* Are there bare spots where I can plant more bulbs?

If some of your bulbs aren't blooming well,you'll need to try to figure out why. If they're planted under a shrub that's shading them too much or if they are in an area that doesn't drain well,they'll need to be moved.


Write down your observations and take a few pictures so you won't have to try to remember what the conditions in your garden were like in March come October. Trust me,you'll be glad you did.

Mark And Label Your Daffodils Well

If you haven't labeled your daffodil varieties spring is the best time to do that. It's much easier to do it while they are growing and blooming. It's very difficult to remember exactly where the bulbs are and which ones are which after the leaves have disappeared. Get some inexpensive plastic garden labels where you can write the varieties down so you'll know where they are. The markers I've listed below are from Park Seed and they are a really good deal.

If you have long established plantings or if your daffodils were there when you moved in you may not even know their names. That's okay. The point of labeling them is to mark the spot where the bulbs are planted. Even labeling them with tags like "white trumpet" or "yellow jonquil" is fine. If you don't know what type they are take a picture for future reference and label them by color. Just mark your bulbs so you'll know where to dig when you're moving them or planting new bulbs and plants near them.

Make sure you mark the outer edges of each clump. You can use small wooden stakes or even sticks from around your yard to do this. I've even read that golf tees are good to use for this. I don't remember where I read that but I wish I had thought of it.

Taking the time to do all this may seem like a pain but believe me, it's an even bigger pain to try and figure out where the different daffodils are planted when there's nothing above ground to guide you.

Take plenty of pictures of your daffodils when they are in bloom. Snap as many photos as you can from many different angles. When you're planting new bulbs in the fall you'll be glad that you did this.


In Part 2 I'll give you more tips on evaluating your spring garden so you can plan for next year's flowers.





Great Helpers For Labeling Your Flowers
These inexpensive tools can help you when you're labeling your bulbs. They're also great for the vegetable garden and for container plants.

Paint Marker

Paint Marker
The most permanent paint pen for labeling plant markers. Industrial-strength, the paint dries in 30 seconds, and is designed to be impervious to sun and rain. A perfect marking pen for plant labels Paint is longer lasting than ink Black ink Paint can be removed with rubbing alcohol.

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Spring Has Sprung At Last!

The Vernal Equinox occurs today at 7:44 AM EDT. I wish all of you a happy Spring,full of great new beginnings. May all your needs and most of your wants be fulfilled in the coming season. Take some time and enjoy the lengthening days and the new life springing forth all around you.And don't forget to stop and smell the daffodils.

It's Time To Enjoy Fresh Cut Daffodil Bouquets

Photo Courtesy Peggy MacAllister Copyright 2009

Fresh cut daffodil bouquets are one of the great pleasures of spring. Although the official start of spring is over a week away the daffodil season has begun in all but the coldest parts of the U.S. If your daffodils aren't blooming yet they will start soon. It's always nice to have fresh cut flowers from your own garden to brighten those cold days of late winter and early spring.

Cutting Your Daffodil Flowers Is Actually Good For Them

Cutting stems of daffodils is actually good for your bulbs as it will help them grow larger and produce more blooms next year. If you let seed pods form, your bulbs will stay small and may not flower very well next year. This is because the plant will put its energy into making seeds instead of growing by division. Cutting as many flowers as you can will save you from having to do a lot of late spring deadheading duties. For those who may not know,deadheading simply means removing the spent flowers before seeds can develop. It has nothing to do with psychedelic rock music from the 1960s. More about the importance of deadheading in a future post.

Harvesting Your Daffodil Flowers

The method I use to gather daffodils for a bouquet is very low-tech. I simply pinch the stem off at ground level. Make sure that you don't damage the leaves. You need to leave the leaves alone. You can use clean scissors or a sharp knife to cut the stems if you'd prefer. If you cut the stems you'll need to dip the blades in bleach between each cut to avoid spreading disease. Another method for cutting daffodil stems is to use a cigarette lighter and apply a flame to your cutting tool between cuts. Daffodils are susceptible to viruses so don't skip this step if you choose to cut your flowers rather than pinching them.

Be aware that daffodils stems will exude a sticky sap when cut so if you have sensitive skin you may want to wear gloves when gathering daffodil flowers for your bouquets. Remember when gathering flowers you should hold the stems with the flowers pointing down. If you're gathering a large number of flowers you can use a flower basket lined with paper towels.

Preparing Your Daffodils For The Vase

When you're ready to prepare your daffodil bouquet cut the bottom half inch or so of the stems. More sticky sap will run out. Put the flowers in a clean vase with about an inch of cool water. This is called conditioning. They only need a small amount of water so don't add too much. After a few hours the stems will probably soak up all of this water. You'll then need to rinse the vase and add fresh water. If you wish you can add floral food to the water according to package instructions.

If you're willing to repeat these steps daily your daffodil bouquet should last for several days. If some of your flowers are still in the bud stage when you harvest them your daffodil bouquet should last up to a week.

Using Daffodils In A Mixed Flower Bouquet

If you'd like to have a mixed flower bouquet that includes daffodils you'll have to condition the daffodils separately. That sticky sap that runs out of cut daffodils will clog the stems of tulips and other cut flowers and keep them from absorbing water in the vase. So don't just plop daffodils in the vase with other flowers.

Condition your daffodils as above. The daffodils will need to stay in the cool water isolated from the rest of your bouquet for 6-8 hours or overnight. You can then add the daffodils to the rest of your bouquet. To make all of your flowers last longer you can remove the daffodils every couple of days and repeat this treatment.
*Cut the bottom half-inch of the stems.
*Condition the stems in a separate container of cool water for 6-8 hours.
*Add them back to your mixed flower bouquet.
Remember to change the water in your vase daily and add floral food to make your bouquet last as long as possible. If you follow these instructions you'll be enjoying beautiful flower bouquets all spring long.

*About The Photo

The daffodils in the picture are from my mother's garden.She doesn't remember planting these beautiful trumpet daffodils. In fact she insists that she didn't plant them. No matter how they ended up in her yard they are beautiful and she enjoys them whenever they bloom.

The white vase and the dark blue table cloth set off this lovely bouquet of daffodils beautifully.


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