Daffodils are truly heralds of spring. Their cheerful yellow flowers brighten east Texas roadways early each year before dogwoods and azaleas begin their show. Daffodils have long been a favorite of gardeners and non-gardeners alike. They are easy to grow and if you pick the right varieties, they return annually with little or no help from us. There is something almost magical in planting this little package of life that already has its flower formed deep inside, ready to spring up at the beginning of a new year.
Greg Grant, a native east Texas horticulturist and coauthor of "The Southern Heirloom Garden," enlightened attendants at the Fall Gardening Seminar on the most reliable of daffodils for our gardens. The following are some notes from his talk.
Grant focused on daffodils because they are so reliable, easy and require no special handling, no pre-chilling, and are so long lived. He showed examples of daffodils outlining a long-gone sidewalk leading up to a similarly long-gone home and other abandoned home sites blanketed with yellow and white daffodils.
Tulips and hyacinths, on the other hand, need to be chilled for about 60 days before planting, and can usually only be counted on for a single season of color. They are basically treated like annual flowers, discarded after they have done their beauty duty in the landscape. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this approach, since these bulbs make such beautiful displays. But the gardener who desires plants that return year after year, and even multiply, should focus on those types with proven endurance. A driving tour along east Texas roadways in early spring is the best way to learn what daffodils are locally adapted.
Jonquils, narcissus and daffodils are all, botanically-speaking, Narcissus. And within the Narcissus clan there are 12 classes or divisions which we won't get into here. To simplify matters, Grant divided them into three groups - narcissus, daffodils and jonquils.
The focus of Grant's talk was on those daffodils which need no regular dividing to rebloom annually. He suggests that types which bloom in clusters and those with smaller flowers are the better repeat performers for our area. Grant also recommends that any daffodil variety that is classified as an early bloomer (as opposed to mid or late season) will tend to do better for us.
First are the narcissus, often called tazetta or paperwhites, which bloom with clusters of flowers in mid to late winter, sometimes as early as Christmas. Most paperwhites, as the name implies are white, with an intense fragrance which folks either love or hate. Paperwhites are often sold for forcing blooms indoors, mainly because they are so easy and require no chilling.
Because paperwhites or narcissus bloom so early in the season, it is not unusual for a freeze to nip either the foliage or blooms. But they still are great choices for very early season color. The cultivars 'Pearl' and 'Grand Primo' are two which are often found naturalized and can also be purchased commercially through some mail order companies. 'Earlicheer' is a fragrant double narcissus that is local favorite.
Jonquils are beloved for their sweet fragrance and tough-as-nails habit. The clusters of small, yellow flowers, which are held above rush-like leaves, appear in February. They also naturalize and readily spread by seed, so once established, you'll always have these cheerful flowers in your landscape. Grant likes the campernelle jonquil best of all the narcissus. It bears 2 or 3 large (for jonquils) yellow flowers held above vigorous rush-like leaves that have a bluish tint.
Grant suggests using daffodils on the edges of the lawn, along shrub borders or at the edge of a natural area where they can grow undisturbed from the lawn mower. They also work well in groundcover beds and under deciduous trees.
Many of the old fashioned types may not be readily available at your favorite nursery. A great way of getting a start would be from someone else who already has some. Good gardeners know that dividing crowded bulbs will always invigorate a clump.
If you'd like the showy, large trumpet-type or large cupped daffodils for your garden, be ready to divide and thin crowded bulbs every three or four years to maintain vigorous blooming. When the foliage has turned yellow in late spring, but before it totally disappears, is the best time to dig and reset your bulbs.
Whether you plant the large trumpet types, or the smaller jonquils or narcissus, visit your nursery or bulb dealer and make your purchases soon for the best quality and variety selections.
Next spring, Mrs. Helen Lee's Garden south of Gladewater is a great place to go in February to see and enjoy daffodil blooms by the millions over several acres. Also, the folks with Keep Tyler Beautiful created Project Daffodil this year to encourage Tylerites to plant daffodils everywhere, giving our area a jump start on spring color for the Azalea Trail which comes along a few weeks later.
Keith Hansen is Smith County Horticulturist with Texas Cooperative Extension. Educational programs of Texas Cooperative Extension are open to all individuals without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin.
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