Daffodils Mother

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Daffodils Mothers Favorite Spring Flower

• A Special Exhibit for the New Vernon Garden Club
• Standard Flower Show
• April 28, 2008
• by Denise Bridgens-Collins

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Key Information Sources

• Daffodils for North American Gardens by Brent
  Becky Heath
• The Book of Botanical Prints by Basilius Beslar
• The American Daffodil Society for all photos
  except the photo from the 2007 Royal
  Horticultural Society Daffodil Show
• The Royal Horticultural Society

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A daffodil by any other name

• Genus Narcissus the formal Latin
• term for the whole genus of these
• (often sunny yellow) bulbous plants of
• the Amaryllis family

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A daffodil by any other name

• Common name for all members of the genus
  Narcissus Daffodil

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A daffodil by any other name Are jonquils
daffodils?

• Yes, and they are the seventh division of the
• thirteen divisions of daffodils.
• Sometimes daffodils are referred to by those in
  the
• Southeast as jonquils.

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A daffodil by any other name Are buttercups
daffodils?

• Some Midwesterners call daffodils buttercups.

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Daffodil AnatomyCourtesy of Daffodils for North
American Gardens by Brent Becky Heath
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Best Bloom in Show at the Royal Horticultural
Society Daffodil Show, London, April 3-4, 2007
Division 1 Trumpet Daffodils Royal
Horticultural Society
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Daffodil Trivia or little known fascinating
facts about Narcissus

• Great Britain leads the world in the creation of
• hybrids overall production of Narcissus bulbs.

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• During the depression, daffodils were known as
  the poor mans rose.
• Despite hard times, daffodil farmers found a
  ready market.

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2007 National Gold Winner Hartlebury American
Daffodil Society
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• The size of the bulb will often, but not always,
  determine the number of blooms.

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Wendover Division 7 Jonquilla
Daffodils American Daffodil Society
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Mesa Verde Division 12 Miscellaneous
Daffodils American Daffodil Society
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Practically speaking, daffodils

• survive in all but the hottest (zone 10)
  coldest (zones 1, 2, 3) of areas.
• are tolerant of most soils having good drainage.
  

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Practically speaking, daffodils

• are drought tolerant in all seasons except
  spring.
• are almost pest-free deer pass them by.

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Saint Louie Louie Division 6 Cyclamineus
Daffodils American Daffodil Society
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Watieri Division 13 Species, Wild Variants, and
Wild Hybrids American Daffodil Society
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An important fact

• Cut daffodils secrete a fluid that will poison
  any other type of flower sharing a vase! Mother
  never mixes her cut daffodils!
• But its fine to plant them in the ground next to
  any other plant.

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Hmmm, they seem easy to growand very pretty,
so maybe Ill plant some. Any advice?

• Plant in the fall when the ground temperature is
  at or below 60 degrees F, at a depth of 6 to 8
  inches.

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• General rule of thumb for larger bulbs (2 to 3
  inches in diameter) plant at a depth which is 3
  to 4 times the height of the bulb.

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More on planting Create a bulb bed by building
up the bulb bed from grade level with hummus-rich
soil, approximately 6 to 8 inches above the
surrounding site.
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And yet more

• How far apart to plant?
• 3 X the width of the bulb.

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Which end goes down?

• How to position the bulb in the ground?
• Plant with the bulb base down.
• However if you accidentally plant it sideways or
  upside down, its strong roots will eventually
  pull the bulb into the correct position.

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Cornish Cream Division 10 Bulbocodium
Hybrids American Daffodil Society
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Q A My easy to grow daffodils have stopped
blooming? What happened? Daffodils will cease
blooming when the soil becomes deficient in
certain nutrients. Top dressing in the fall with
a 5-10-12 fertilizer or possibly 5-10-20 (5
nitrogen, 10 potash, 20 potassium) helps.
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If you dont fertilize in the fall, apply spring
dressing of water soluble fertilizer (5-11-26 )
between emergence and blooming.
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Q A My daffodils are looking pale, it seems
like theyve lost their vibrant color. Do I need
new bulbs? Try this first Sprinkle a ½ cup of
Epsom salts per 10 square feet in the fall or
early spring as a top dressing. No
guarantees but this is thought by some to
increase the color intensity of those in the red
and pink range.
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Q A My daffodils arent reproducingwhat
should I do? Fertilize!
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Quiz

• True or False
• Deer find daffodils especially tasty.

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Quiz

• True or False
• 2. Other flowers do well sharing a vase with cut
  daffodils.

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Quiz

• True or False
• 3. Daffodil bulbs can be planted in spring or
  fall.

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Quiz Answers

• Deer find daffodils especially tasty.
• False

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Quiz Answers

• 2. Other flowers do well sharing a vase with cut
  daffodils.
• False, cut daffodils will poison the other
  flowers.

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Quiz Answers

• Daffodil bulbs can be planted in spring or fall.
• True, but they bloom only in the spring and if
  planted in the spring, will bloom the next
  spring.

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Bonus trick question coming up next! For the
brave at heart and those with a blooming sense
of humor
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Bonus Trick Question You have a lovely, small
daffodil bed and decide to expand it. If you
carefully plant 5 dozen King Alfred daffodil
bulbs under the full moon early one warm and
lovely October evening and
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Bonus Trick Question, contd Then, on a whim,
plant 3 dozen Blue Giant hyacinth bulbs by
tossing them over your left shoulder, in the
general direction of the daffodil bed, then
sprinkle with a bulb booster, such as Bulb-tone,
and top with good soil and
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Bonus Trick Question, contd they dont suffer
drought in the spring or get dug up by the
neighbor's dog (your dog would never do anything
like that!)
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Bonus Trick Question, contd in 2 and a half
years, theoretically, how many total daffodils
should be blooming in your lovely bulb bed?
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Bonus Trick Question, contd Hint
Theoretically, each year a daffodil bulb is in
the ground, it doubles in number.
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Answer to Bonus Trick Question Answer is after
the Credits slide.
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Mothers Favorite Recipe Daffodillies

• Dinner rolls, laced with dill weed not
  daffodilswhich is a good thing because daffodil
  bulbs, if eaten, might make one ill.
• 1 8 oz. can Pillsbury butterflake dinner rolls,
  separated into 12 pieces
• Combine the following
• 1 3 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1 T butter, softened
• ½ tsp prepared mustard
• ½ tsp dill weed
• Place rolls onto cookie sheet and make
  indentation in the center of each.
• Fill center of each with a heaping teaspoon of
  the mixture.
• Bake for 10-13 minutes at 375 degrees.

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Want to learn more?

• The American Daffodil Society, www.
  daffodilusa.org
• Books
• Daffodils for North American Gardens by Brent
  Becky Heath
• Narcissus A Guide to Wild Daffodils by John
  Blanchard
• Narcissus by Michael Jefferson-Brown
• Yearbook-Daffodils by The Royal Horticultural
  Society

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Credits

• Daffodils for North American Gardens by Brent
  Becky Heath
• The Book of Botanical Prints by Basilius Beslar
• The American Daffodil Society for all photos
  except the photo from the 2007 Royal
  Horticultural Society Daffodil Show
• The Royal Horticultural Society

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Botanical prints courtesy of The Book of
Botanical Prints by Basilius Beslar
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Answer to Bonus Trick Question

• It depends
• on how many daffodils were pre-existing in the
  bulb bed.
• But, so you dont feel cheated, see next slide

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Answer to Bonus Trick Question the math

• Heres an example of how the daffodils would
  theoretically multiply
• Lets say the existing bed has 24 daffodils which
  bloom 4/08.
• Its now 10/08, you plant 5 dozen (60) more
  daffodils.
• 4/09 existing 24 daffodils multiply to 48
• the 60 new daffodils bloom
• 4/10 the 48 daffodils multiply to 96
• the 60 new daffodils multiply to
  120
• 4/11 the 96 daffodils multiply to 192
• the 120 daffodils multiply to 240
• Grand theoretical total of daffodils in this bed
  on 4/11 is 432.
• (192 240 432)

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In one minute this presentation will restart.
Thank you for your attention. I hope you
found this presentation interesting and
informative. Denise Bridgens-Collins