Spring Bulbs: Part 2 Daffodils

Looking and thinking back to last spring!

Daffodil season has to be one of my very favorite times of the year. Anticipating the first crocus is exciting, but they are a bit short for a bouquet. However, when the daffodils begin bursting into flower it’s time to rejoice! There are a lot of daffodils/narcissi in my gardens but I doubt there can ever be too many. And, with my mission to spread joy through gift bouquets the excuse to plant more was easily justified! The problem was, where to put them. The gardens really do have all they need but recently while picking blackberries, I revised the plan to eliminate the second berry row. Originally (7 years ago?) red raspberries were planted there, but they just never took off and over the years have disappeared. I’ve considered replacing them, but I suspect virus from the nearby wild black raspberries was part of the problem. The posts and crosswire supports are still there and the soil has been amended, so the new plan is to plant daffodils down the entire row, and to add sunflowers and zinnias later on to supplement the Cutting Garden. That should work, don’t you think? Well, it’s worth a try and daffodils are so easy! This is an area that gets lots of wind, so there are no heavy-headed varieties that would just get bent-over stems. Here’s what’s coming:

“Fragrant Breeze”

This charmer is noted for its flattened, very wide cup fronting 4″ white petals. The cup opens orange but matures to a buff-peach, and as the name reflects, this large-cupped narcissi is very fragrant. 18-20″ April? There’s 50 of these! From Van Engelen.

“Alexis Beauty”

ColorBlends offered this irresistible stunner with large blooms. Bright yellow petals surround a ruffled trumpet that opens apricot but takes on cream and orange highlights as it matures. An early bloomer.

“Pride of Lions”

Also from ColorBlends, “Pride of Lions” is a mid-season variety with an extremely broad but shallow, deep orange cup surrounded by lemon yellow petals. 25 of these are on the way!

“Yellow Cheerfulness”

An old, old variety from 1937 that is still just as desirable today because it blooms very late, has strong stems and is richly perfumed. I’ve had the white variety for decades, and if the yellow is half as good it is a prize! 25 of these as well.

“Night Cap”

I couldn’t resist this narcissi, with its dramatic deep coral-edged trumpet and pristine white petals. From John Scheepers, this 16″ April bloomer promises a lot of contrast! Pricey, so only 10…sigh!

“Greengarden”

Scheepers describes this beauty as greenish-yellow, so I’m interested to see how much it differs from the “normal” yellow daffodil. The long funnel trumpet matures to bright white! Should be interesting to watch. Only 10 of these.

This will bring my total daffodil/narcissis collection to 46 varieties and I adore each one. I’m still searching for later blooming varieties to extend the season.

There’s 60′ of row, so if I need more I’ll just pick up some solid gold “King Alfred” and pure white “Mount Hood” from a local store. Both of these are tried and true, reliable performers. And, I could be tempted to round that 46 to an even 50, if I see something outstanding that I don’t already have! No need to worry about the deer and rabbits even these will be close to the woods, because no one eats daffodils! I’m getting excited just thinking about them!

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