Daffodils in May – Late Bloomers – Fading Glory
Nothing heralds spring more loudly than the trumpets of early daffodil varieties, which make the world sing with yellow before fading away to make way for the full symphony of pinks and purples of the spring flowering trees.
It has been a month or more since the large swaths of early daffodils throughout the neighborhood have faded, going especially quickly this year with an early heat spell. Even in consistently cooler springs, daffodil time can seem all too short.
Walking along Brambleton Road last week I experienced a perfumed reminder that this need not necessary be so as my nose lead my eyes to a gorgeously generous grouping of tulips with pheasant’s eye and other late daffodils. “Oh, of course!” I remembered Proust-like from my daffodil past. With a little planning it is perfectly possible to have daffodils blooming from March until May!
The ‘poets’ daffodils that bloom in late April and early May are the most ancient and most fragrant of daffodils. The French and Dutch grow Narcissus poeticus for its essential oil, which is used in about 10% of all high-end perfumes. Cultivated and beloved in the ancient world, they are said to have inspired the Greek legend of Narcissus. White-petaled with delicate orange reddish-rimmed small cups or ‘eyes’, they blend beautifully with tulips or can sing a cappella in elegant choruses alone, more delicate and elegant than their earlier trumpeting kin.
Sadly, these daffodils too will soon be gone – leaving the annual daffodil down-side – foliage that flops and quickly turns unattractive. What to do with this foliage is the subject of sometimes heated debate. Martha Stewart braids hers, as does the New York Botanical Garden. Some people gather, fold and rubber- band or tie them into a small bundle. Not only are these two options a lot of work if one grows more than a few daffodils, but according to the American Daffodil Society neither one is the best thing for the plant, which really needs at least 6 weeks of natural and unhindered die-back of the foliage for the plant to do it’s best next year.
After a couple of years of time-consuming bundling with rubber bands and daffodils that didn’t do all that well the following year I finally concluded it was best to let them be. I solved the eyesore problem by designing the beds they grew in to hide the dying foliage, using daylilies, peonies and other emerging perennials foliage to visually obscure the daffodil foliage as it did its required flop and die.
Inadequate foliage die-back is not the only thing that can affect next year’s bloom. I’ve had a lot of questions this spring from people whose daffodils are no longer blooming as they once did. Most often a quick look tells me that their daffodils need dividing. Most people believe, and it is true, that many daffodil bulbs will form colonies of more daffodils as the years go by (and some varieties are better at this than others). The magic of one plant turning into many cannot go on forever however and eventually you need to dig a daffodil clump up, separate the bulbs and replant them.
The best way to divide daffodils is to dig up the clump of daffodils after the foliage has yellowed, separate the individual bulbs and immediately replant them 6 inches deep about 6 inches apart. You can also allow the bulbs to dry in the shade, store them in a dry place in mesh bags and replant in the fall.
Daffodils should be fertilized with a top dressing of low nitrogen fertilizer like 5-10-10 in the fall and early spring. Never put fertilizer directly into the planting hole! It can kill emerging roots and promote rot.
Now is the time to get on the lists of vendors whose catalogs sell a great variety of daffodils that can carry your daffodil show from March until May next spring. A list of some of my favorite mail order daffodil vendors is below.
Daffodil Tips:
- Narcissus is the proper name for the genus of plants commonly known as daffodils or jonquils
- Select early, middle and late blooming varieties to have daffodils all spring
- Plant in a sunny spot with good drainage. Daffodil bulbs do not like soggy conditions.
- Allow foliage to die back naturally for at least 6 weeks.
- Plant daffodils with other plants whose growth will hide unattractive foliage die-back
- Divide and replant clumps of daffodils when they start to become overcrowded and stop blooming well. Do this after at least 6 weeks of spring foliage die-back
- Fertilize in the fall and spring with a low nitrogen fertilizer like 5-10-10
Sources:
Nancy Wilson Miniature Daffodils
Books:
Daffodils for North American Gardens, by Brent and Becky Heath
Spring Bulbs: Daffodils, Tulips and Hyacinths, by Geoff Stebbings
More Information:
The Maryland Daffodil Society (at $10.00 per year to join it’s a deal!) contact: Sally Waller email: sallywaller77@yahoo.com
The Daffodil Photo Database ( if you read about a daffodil and want to see what it looks like go here!)
Mt Washington resident Elizabeth Hopkins is a journalist and gardening consultant with a passion for all things plant related. She can be reached at glowsgarden@gmail.com.
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