i am a collector of plants. not every plant, but certain plants, i collect different varieties of the same plant. for example, i love spring daffodils. i know i have planted hundreds of them over the years, and i expect them to last forever, only to be disappointed that they don’t always come back. even they have a lifespan. so, i have made a promise with myself to plant daffodils every year so i will always have a spring bed of daffodils.
now, some of my gardening friends would say that i have narcissus and jonquils also growing in my yard, but i call all of these plants daffodils. i like the large cupped flowers, the two-tone colored flowers, the doubles, the ones with drooping yellow trumpets, and all the rest. i haven’t found a daffodil that i don’t like. and, after a cold winter and a damp lack luster april, i am thrilled to be looking at these sunny blooms.
i apply a bulb fertilizer when i see the shoots appearing from the ground. excellent drainage is very important for these flowers, so don’t plant in a wet zone. also, daffodils need sunlight. so, don’t plant them in a shade zone of your garden bed. they will never come up. i have tried.
when i plant the bulbs every fall, i make sure to have a nice mulched leaf bed over them to protect the ground over the winter. when i think it is warming up, i move the leaves aside and look for the emerging shoots. i make certain to clear the leaves away in the spring to allow as much sunlight directed to the ground to wake up those little bulbs from their winter’s nap.
angel food garden 