How to Divide Daffodils

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Daffodils grow from bulbs that you plant in the fall. They are one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring each year and they come up year after year once they are planted. Like all bulbs, they are propagating under the ground where you can't see them. For the first several years the flowers get larger and more of them appear. After the fourth year, however, there may be an increasing amount of foliage but the flowers may seem smaller and there may be fewer of them. When this happens you need to divide the bulbs because there are too many of them for the space. Here are some directions.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Garden shovel
Garden gloves
Basket or tub
Table
Newspaper
Recycled net bags such as the ones onions come in at the grocery store
A cool, dry, dark place to hang the bulbs

Step1

Allow the daffodils to bloom and then wait until the petals have fallen off of the flowers and the foliage has begun to fade. The bulbs are nourished through the process of photosynthesis (remember high school biology class?), which happens in the leaves after the flowering season has passed. Some gardeners fold down and tie their daffodil leaves so that the flowers that bloom next are not hidden by the tall daffodil leaves. This gives the daffodil bulbs the maximum nutrition. Perhaps four to six weeks later it will be time to harvest the bulbs.

Step2

Choose a day that is not too hot after a rain or a good soaking from the hose so that the ground will be easy to dig into. Use your shovel to cut into the ground, making a circle around each clump of daffodil leaves that begins about four to six inches away from the leaves. Hold onto the leaves with one hand while you dig with the other hand. Gently rock back and forth on the leaves as you dig deeper around the circle. The daffodils should begin to loosen from the dirt.

Step3

Pull on the daffodil leaves once they are loose enough to come all the way out of the dirt. Bulbs will be connected to the stems. Knock them against the ground to shake off any soil. Some more bulbs will be lying in the hole that is left from where the clump was planted. Gently remove these bulbs from the garden. Place all of the bulbs in your basket or tub. Continue until you have dug up each clump of daffodils that have been in the ground for four or more years.

Step4

Spread the bulbs out on a table in your garden shed or basement on top of some newspaper until any moisture from the dirt has evaporated and the bulbs are dry. This should take a couple of days. When the bulbs are all dry, put them into net bags. Hang them in a shed, attic or any dry, cool, dark place until late fall.

Step5

Replant the bulbs about six inches apart in the late fall. The larger bulbs (two to three inches in diameter) will produce flowers in a few months. Some of the smallest bulbs may only produce leaves in the first season. Once again the nutrition from the sun acting on the leaves will cause these smaller bulbs to grow under the ground. By the second spring after planting very small bulbs you should see flowers.

Tips & Warnings

If you have several varieties of daffodils, keep them separated in net bags by variety and make sure to label them carefully. Then, when you plant them you will be able to design the flow of the color and the timing of the bloom.