How to Plant Daffodils

Daffodils are the essence of spring and are among the easiest, most reliable flowers to grow. Plant the bulbs in fall, and in the spring they'll turn into a sunny yellow explosion.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Flower Bulbs
• Garden Hoses
• Shovels
• Bulb Fertilizers
• Bulb Planters

1. Select varieties and types by flower color, form and bloom time (early, mid or late season bloom).

2. Purchase high-quality bulbs, free of bruises or soft spots.

3. Arrange for delivery, or make your purchase, so you can plant in fall - early in cold-winter climates, later in mild areas.

4. Select a sunny planting location.

5. 

   Prepare the soil, if necessary, by incorporating ample organic matter. Soil preparation is not always necessary if drainage is good.

6. 

   Dig holes 3 to 6 inches deep. Plant larger bulbs at the deeper end of the range. Leave 2 to 4 inches between bulbs.

7. 

   Add bulb fertilizer to the bottom of the hole, and roughly mix it into the soil.

8. 

   Place the daffodil bulb in the hole, pointed side up, root side down. The bottom of the bulb should rest firmly on the bottom of the hole.

9. 

   Water the bulbs thoroughly.

Tips & Warnings

• There are literally hundreds of types of daffodils to choose from, varying in color, flower form and time of bloom. Popular yellow daffodils such as the King Alfred produce one large bloom. Closely related narcissuses produce many small flowers from each bulb. Get a good bulb book if you want to really go daffodil crazy.
• Daffodils can be planted under many deciduous trees. They will grow and bloom before the trees leaf out and shade the planting area.
• Look for many helpful tools specifically designed for planting bulbs. Some make perfect holes by removing small cylinders of soil. Auger-like tools can be attached to electric drills. They are particularly useful when planting a lot of bulbs.
• If you are planting a lot of daffodils, dig large trenches instead of individual holes. Place the bulbs in the bottom of the trench and fill it in with soil.
• Avoid buying bargain daffodils; they often disappoint. You get a basic idea of the quality of a daffodil bulb by its size and number of points (where growth will sprout). The bigger and plumper the bulb is and the more points it has (as many as three or four), the better its bloom will be.

[dao6767]

on 10/16/2008 How deep?

[Boydnatalie]

on 9/23/2008 This is great advice on Daffodill's. I am planning on planting some bulbs in my mother-in-law's lard within the next day or two.

My husband and I leave on September 30th to backpack to various countries around the world for a year or so. As we have been planning for our adventure we have been updating a blog. www.nomadbackpackers.com

I figure the daffodil's will be a special surprise for her next spring. When we are still far away, backpacking.

Thanks again for all the pointers!
Natalie

on 7/14/2006 When planting a large drift of daffodils for naturalizing, start with at least 200 or more bulbs of different varieties and bloom time. Prepare a large, open bed area and then cast the daffodils from a pail or bucket, and plant them where they land, unless of course if they are too bunched in one spot, spread them out a bit. Some of the bulbs can be left together in uneven numbers to a grouping, like 9 or 11 bulbs. Reseed the bed with grass seed. This will give a natural look to your drift. This is best done in a lawn area which doesn't need immediate mowing, as you want to be able to allow the daffodil leaves to live unmowed until they die back in late spring/early summer. This has a wonderful effect if you have a field on your property, you can add bulbs yearly, just be sure to somehow mark where you left off.