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Growing Daffodils: A Beginner's Guide

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The Daffodil Growing Guide For Beginners Will Show Newbies How To Get Great Results

Growing daffodils is one of the best projects for a new gardener who wants to grow beautiful flowers without having to be an expert. All you need for growing daffodils is fertile soil and healthy daffodil bulbs. You can even grow daffodils in containers if you don't have any garden space.

This daffodil growing guide for beginners is for newbies that would like to have beautiful daffodils in their gardens but don't know where to start. It really is easy to grow daffodils when you know how.

Many beginners make simple mistakes when planting daffodil bulbs and never try to grow them again.The information on this page will teach you the basics of growing daffodils so you can avoid most of the trial and error and enjoy a spring flower garden that will be the envy of your neighborhood.

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Contents at a Glance

Plant Your Daffodil Bulbs At The Proper...
Recommended Reading For Daffodil Growers
Daffodils Need Sun
Good Soil Ensures Good Conditions For Gr...
Plant Your Daffodil Bulbs At The Proper...
You Need To Feed Your Daffodil Bulbs Whe...
Organic Bulb Food For Growing Daffodils
Grow The Best Daffodils For Your Unique...
You May Need to Divide Your Daffodil Bul...

Planting At The Right Time Will Ensure Success

Daffodils are perennial bulbs that should be planted in autumn after the nights are cool but before the ground freezes. A good rule of thumb is to plant daffodil bulbs when the leaves begin to fall in your area. Most autumn planted bulbs need what is called a chilling period in order to bloom in the spring. That means the best planting time for daffodils is September to November in most of the Northern Hemisphere. In hotter areas like the gulf coast region you can wait until December or even early January.

Trumpet and Large-Cupped daffodils will always perform better in an area that has at least two months of winter weather. If you live in the Gulf Coast or other warm winter regions you can plant daffodils from the tazetta and jonquilla divisions. These are cluster-flowered narcissus bulbs that don't need a cold period to bloom every year.

Daffodils Need Sun

But Not Too Much!

Daffodils will grow in full sun to partial shade. In hotter climates they will tolerate a little more shade.In areas with colder springs,they need at least a half day of sun.

The bulbs are often planted underneath deciduous trees in a woodland setting. Bulbs planted this way will get plenty of sun in the late winter and early spring when they are actively growing. By the time the trees leaf out the bulbs will be going into dormancy.

Bulbs shouldn't be planted under shallow rooted trees or they'll be competing for nutrients and moisture. Also, never plant bulbs under a walnut tree. They have chemicals in their roots that will kill anything you plant in their vicinity.

Good Soil Ensures Good Conditions For Growing Daffodils

Prepare Your Garden Before You Plant Your Bulbs

Daffodils grow best in a neutral to slightly acidic sandy loam type of soil. If your soil is clay you'll need to loosen and amend it before planting your bulbs.

Heavy clay soil will need to be dug to a depth of at least 8 inches. A foot is better if you can manage it.

The best way to guarantee success in clay soil is to create a raised bed by digging in organic matter such as composted leaves. Don't add acidic materials like peat or cottonseed meal.

If you have a really heavy soil that doesn't drain well you can add coarse sand or vermiculite. Make sure to use coarse or sharp sand and not the fine sand that's labeled "play sand."

Remember-never compost walnut leaves.

Greensand
Daffodils and other flowers thrive on Greensand because it supplies marine potash, silica, iron oxide, magnesia, lime, phosphoric acid and 22 trace minerals.Greensand helps to loosen heavy clay soils.

Plant Your Daffodil Bulbs At The Proper Depth

The Deeper You Can Plant Daffodils,The Better

Daffodil bulbs should be planted two to three times as deep as their circumference. In other words, if the bulb is three inches around it should be planted 6-9 inches deep. Smaller species or miniature types should be planted about 4-5 inches deep.

There are several ways to handle a large planting of flowering bulbs. Of course you could dig an individual hole for each bulb but this time consuming and potentially back wrenching. The method I prefer is to dig a larger hole or a small wide trench and plant several bulbs of the same variety. Make sure to give each bulb room to multiply. Don't let them touch each other. When you've finished planting the entire bed you can fill the holes with soil.

Note: Remember to plant bulbs pointy side up!

3 Inch Bulb Auger

This bulb auger will really cut down on the time and back wrenching labor that can be required to plant a large bed of flowering bulbs.An auger is a great tool for planting a new bulb bed.

You Need To Feed Your Daffodil Bulbs When They Get Hungry

Daffodils Love Trace Minerals

Daffodil bulbs are heavy feeders of potassium and trace minerals. Feeding them too much nitrogen will produce lots of lush foliage and very few flowers. Many gardeners like to use bone meal to fertilize bulbs but it is an incomplete fertilizer and it may attract dogs and wild animals to your garden.

If you have amended your soil with compost you probably don't need to fertilize your bulbs the first year. In the second year you can fertilize with a bulb food that is low in nitrogen.

Covering your flower beds with a good organic mulch will keep your daffodil bulbs growing strong for years.

Atlantic Kelp Meal

Kelp is full of the trace minerals that daffodils require to thrive. Atlantic Kelp Meal contains more than 60 minerals and elements, amino acids, carbohydrates and essential plant hormones. It also works great for container plantings.

Organic Bulb Food For Growing Daffodils

Daffodils Bloom Better With Yearly Feedings

While it's not absolutely necessary to feed your daffodil bulbs at planting time I have found that I get better results when I add bulb food to the bottom of the planting hole. After the first year daffodil bulbs will definitely have fewer blooms if they aren't fed yearly in my experience. I only use organic products in my garden and this balanced organic bulb food will give your bulbs all the nutrition they need.

Espoma Organic Bulb-Tone 4-10-6 - 5 lb Bag BT5

Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)

Grow The Best Daffodils For Your Unique Conditions

More Pages On Growing Daffodils

There are thirteen general types of narcissus bulbs and hundreds of different varieties. These pages will help you choose the best type of daffodils to grow whether you live in an area with mild winters and blistering summers or a cold climate with cooler spring and summer weather. You can even grow daffodils indoors by choosing paperwhite narcissus bulbs. These pages will give you more information on growing daffodils almost anywhere.

You May Need to Divide Your Daffodil Bulbs In A Few Years

Daffodil Bulbs Multiply Rapidly And May Become Crowded

If you've planted your daffodil bulbs in a more formal setting you may need to divide them two to three years after planting. When they become crowded narcissus bulbs will produce fewer flowers. You can dig them up and divide them and plant the extra ones somewhere else in your yard or share them with friends. If you've grown a valuable or rare variety you may even be able to sell them!

If you've planted your flowering bulbs in an informal woodland area you may want to leave them alone. Daffodils are very susceptible to fluctuations in weather. If you have a hot dry spring or a late hard freeze, you probably won't see as many flowers that year. Even if they do become crowded the new bulbs will mature and bloom within a year or two.

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Mixed Daffodil Bulbs

Large Bags Of Mixed Bulbs Can Quickly Fill A New Garden With Colorful Blooms

For the beginning gardener large bags of mixed bulbs can be a quick and easy way to cover a large area with flowering bulbs. Although mixed bulbs are probably not the best choice for a formal flower border they can be a great choice if you just want to have plenty of flowers to cut and bring inside. The mixture of different varieties means you will have blooms over a long period.

Mixed Daffodils In Large Quantities

After You've Planted your Daffodils It's Time To Sit Back And Wait For The Show

If You've Followed These Simple Tips Your Bulbs Will Bloom For Years To Come

I hope my daffodil growing guide for beginners has convinced you to give growing daffodils a try in your own garden. It takes a little work to get daffodil bulbs in the ground but once they are planted the work is over and the fun can begin.

You've probably seen daffodils growing on the roadside or near a long abandoned country home and wondered what kind of magic allows daffodils to thrive unattended for so long. You don't need magic or any particular talent to grow daffodils that will live for many years. A bed of daffodils that has been well located and cared for properly will bloom for many years,and probably for decades to come.

Don't be surprised if you start looking for places to tuck in a few bulbs every year. I hope I have convinced you that planting daffodil bulbs is not something a beginner should be afraid of. You're about to discover how addictive growing daffodils can be.

An Instructional Daffodil Planting Video

A good basic how-to Video on choosing, planting and growing daffodil bulbs.

How to Pick the Right Spring Flower Bulb for You : How to Find the Perfect Daffodil Bulbs: by expertvillage | video info

3 ratings | 3,383 views

curated content from YouTube

Are You A Beginner Or An Old Pro At Growing Daffodils?

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gemjane Jan 30, 2012 @ 9:17 pm | delete

Yes, I love Wordsworth's poem, too. We had dafs in the yard when I was growing up. An aunt gave one of my sisters daffodil bulbs for her 60 years ago, and I have the descendents of a lot of those bulbs in my yard now.

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JoeCinocca Nov 19, 2011 @ 4:59 pm | delete

Great tips for me because my entire yard is red clay and the winters/summers here are pretty harsh. Thanks for the great tips!

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Graceonline Nov 6, 2011 @ 10:20 pm | delete

I've been a fan of daffodils since I heard Wordsworth's poem as a child, and yes, when I had a garden, I grew them. I have also been fortunate to live where others before me planted daffodils, and so enjoyed their beauty spring after spring with little effort. She who plants daffodils, like she who plants a tree, leaves a lasting legacy.

Lovely lens. Angel blessed.