The bright yellow and white flowers of daffodils are a sure sign that spring is on its way.
Daffodils are easy to grow, simple to naturalize and usually squirrel proof.
If you do have a problem with squirrel, plant some Narcissi spp. among your bulbs.
A favorite bulb among gardeners, daffodils come in a wide variety of shapes: spiked, single or double bloomed.
They also are beginning to be bred to include pink and lilac in their blooms.
Gardeners can choose to grow the traditional tall daffodils or add miniature ones to their gardens, which are usually sweet scented.
How To Care For Your Daffodils
Daffodils, unlike most other plants, should not be cut back or deadheaded.
In order for your bulb to produce fantastic blooms year after year, it must rely on photosynthesis, which makes leaving the dead blooms and foliage alone a must.
The Best Miniature Daffodils
These miniature daffodil bulbs were not only chosen for their bloom, but also for the availability each one has.
If you prefer early flowering bulbs, our picks are Narcissus ‘Jack Snipe’ and N. ‘Tete-A-Tete.’
Both varieties are approximately 20 cm high.
For those of you who prefer mid-season flowers, try N. ‘Minnow’ or N. ‘Rip Van Winkle.’
I especially like ‘Rip Van Winkle’ due to its unusual, double flowering bright yellow spike blooms.
These are both approximately 15 cm tall.
The late flowering daffodil varieties include N. ‘Baby Moon,’ N. ‘Bridal Crown,’ N. ‘Hawera,’ and N. ‘Canalisulatus.’
The height on these varieties vary from 15 cm all the way to 25 cm.
Planting these miniature bulbs in your garden in groups of about twenty will definitely make your garden a vision of waves of daffodils dancing in the breeze.
You could plant a variety of early, mid-season and late flowering varieties together to help minimize the appearance of the foliage during different periods of growth.
On a final note, I thought I might mention this interesting tid-bit.
Did you know that it took anywhere from fifteen to twenty years to bring a new cultivar to market?
That’s an awful long time to wait, but it sure helps assure us that we get the best varieties available.
Remember, for many gardeners, now is the perfect planting time.
Be sure to check this before you begin to plant. Bulbs must settle into their new homes at the right time in order to ensure perfect blooms come spring.
