You may not have room in your garden for another tree but I bet there is plenty of space in every garden for more daffodils. And now is the perfect time to browse the racks at Knights and choose some more to brighten up your days in spring.
I only know one person that doesn’t like daffodils and that was because they thought all daffodils were yellow. But, of course, daffodils can be many other colours and apart from yellow, white and orange, they can also be pink. According to the variety, daffodils can bloom from February to May, with most opening in late March and April. Varying from tiny dwarfs to majestic, tall flowers, many are also fragrant. And they all make lovely cut flowers.
In pots
You can grow any in pots on the patio and if you only want them to grow in the pot for a year then multipurpose compost is fine. Then you can also plant them with tulips and violas for maximum colour. After they die down you can replant the daffodil bulbs in the garden. But if you don’t have a garden, you can leave them in the pots to bloom again for many years. In that case plant in John Innes No 3 compost or a mix of equal parts John Innes and multipurpose compost. Like other small bulbs, dwarf daffodils also make a great companion for shrubs in pots. So if you have a Japanese maple or other shrub in a pot on the patio, underplant with some dwarf daffodils.
‘Elka’ is a delightful, pale, dwarf trumpet daffodil but also very vigorous. Here it is planted in a pot with evergreen fatsia, adding cheerful colour in spring.
And here is ‘Elka’ naturalised in grass. It excels in both locations
‘Hawera’ is a fairly late daffodil, with pale yellow flowers on slender stems. It is also very adaptable and can be used in many ways. Here I packed the bulbs into a hanging basket along with blue forget-me-nots.
And here they are growing in grass under Japanese maples – though I should have planted more!
Of course, the best-loved, and least expensive, daffodil is ‘Tête-à-Tête’. I hate to be boring but it really is the best for planting in grass or to grow in pots. It is cheerful, produces lots of flowers and grows well everywhere. Whether you are planting in borders, lawns or containers, make sure at least one pack of Tête-à-Tête’ drops into your basket when you are at Knights!
Now there is also ‘Tête Boucle’ which is the double-flowered form. The flowers are pretty and aways remind me of dandelions! But it is just a vigorous as the ‘normal’ kind so is well worth growing. Do you need both? Yes of course you do!
But don’t forget the more fancy kinds with special colours and forms. I have a special fascination for the pink daffodils. Some open more salmon pink than true pink but they develop their colouring as the flowers mature.
Weekly jobs in the garden
Buy and plant shrubs – now is the perfect time to plant trees and shrubs
Clean out the greenhouse, clean the glass and put up insulation
Empty compost bins, mulch borders and compost old bedding plants, fallen leaves and weeds
Pick and store apples and pears