It has been since April since I've written about daffodils. I spent some time this week putting together plans for this year and next year's daffodil adventures.
It would seem that daffodils are done for the year, but there are actually many autumn-blooming daffodils. Unfortunately, many of these are rare or hard to find. I've seen some sold for $50 a bulb! I couldn't justify spending so much money on something that may not even thrive here.
On the other hand, there is the so-called Autumn Daffodil, which is not a member of the genus Narcissus but a close relative: Sternbergia lutea. They look like little yellow crocuses and they bloom in fall. I had them growing at my mom's ten years ago, but sometime in college or while in Indiana they died away among the weeds. This year I've bought ten more bulbs and hope to plant them in pots.
Speaking of pots, I've decided that from now on I mostly want to grow daffodils in pots. Pots have many advantages, especially for a gardener without land of his own to garden on. For one, with so many daffodil varieties, it is getting hard to keep them separate and remember what is where. In pots, this will be so easy. Secondly, having them in pots allows them to be utilized as specimens. I like to have them up close where I can look at them or smell them. I like to move them where there's good lighting if I take photos. I like to bring them inside for short periods to perfume my rooms. Thirdly, it is easier to chill bulbs in pots than in the ground here. Most daffodils need cold to grow and bloom properly, but our soil here stays too warm in winter.
So, as for 2018 plans, these are the new cultivars I'm planning to try. Last year I spent a lot of attention on Jonquilla daffodils. I've started to catch on to the fact that late-blooming daffodils don't fare well here, even if they have mighty Jonquilla ancestry. This year I plan on trying more Tazetta daffodils. They tend to need less cold and bloom earlier.
'Goose Green' - a Poeticus daffodil, the first one I've tried. It blooms earlier, so maybe it will work.
'Abba' - a double sport of 'Cragford' (see below); seems similar to 'Sir Winston Churchill' but blooms earlier
'Orange Comet' - a Cyclamineus daffodil. Not sure how it will do but I couldn't resist trying.
'Martinette' - a Tazetta that should do well.
'Falconet' - another Tazetta with similar ancestry to 'Martinette'
'Aspasia' - a late blooming Tazetta/Poeticus hybrid. Has similar ancestry to 'Twin Sisters' which does well here, so I'm taking the gamble.
'Cragford' - an early Tazetta
'Odoratus' - a smaller Tazetta that is supposed to bloom better than 'Canaliculatus', which only sends up foliage for me; supposedly has a great apricot scent, too.
'Bittern' - one of the complex hybrid daffodils that looked interesting to me.
'Diamond Ring' - one of the Bulbocodium daffodils (hoop-petticoat type)
Also, a few heirloom and historic varieties:
'Princeps' - a very early trumpet daffodil that may be a selection of N. grayi
'White Lady' - a small cup daffodil from before 1897
'Grand Primo' - it grows in the woods all by my dad's house and I posted photos earlier this year, but I wanted some of my own.
'Stella' - a large cup daffodil from before 1869.
'Minor Monarque' - a starlike, fragrant Tazetta daffodil that blooms very early, perhaps around New Years.
Well, that wraps up things for now. I'm looking forward to getting things going. Hopefully I'll receive my Autumn Daffodils this week.
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| Autumn Daffodil, Sternbergia lutea, taken in October 2007. My, time has flown by! |
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