{"id":3226,"date":"2019-01-03T00:50:42","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T00:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=3226"},"modified":"2019-03-06T23:20:20","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T23:20:20","slug":"glorious-geophytes-for-the-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=3226","title":{"rendered":"Glorious Geophytes for the Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Right now is a good time of the year to plant\nspring-flowering bulbs. There are many available varieties for venturesome\ngardeners to consider, and we regularly recommend trying unfamiliar botanical\ntreasures. Today\u2019s column features daffodils, which could well be the most\npopular and most frequently hybridized of the geophytes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
‘King Alfred’ Daffodils<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here are reasons for including daffodils in your\ngarden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Really\nBeautiful <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many flowers\nare delightful in the garden, and many gardeners have their favorites, but just\nabout everyone enjoys daffodils, especially when they declare the arrival of\nthe spring season. Daffodils have graceful stems, attractive foliage, and\nunique blossoms. Trumpet daffodils, the most familiar division within the genus\nNarcissus, have blossoms that feature the trumpet-shaped corona surrounded by six\npetal-like tepals<\/a>, which form the perianth. The corona and\nperianth might have the same color, or different colors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerous Hybrids\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A very large and growing number of hybrid daffodils\nare available through garden centers and mail order nurseries. Many plants are\nyellow or white, or combinations of those colors; hybridizers have introduced\ncultivars with green, pink, orange and red elements. There are interesting and\npleasing color combinations for various tastes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The growing number of hybrids includes variations\nof shapes, particularly in the coronas that might be single or double in form,\nor might have ruffled or frilly edges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also varieties that bloom in at various\nrtimes, as early a late December and as late as early, mid- or late spring, so\nwith a little planning you can create an extended display. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perennialize\nThemselves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During their\ngrowing season, many hybrid daffodil bulbs form side bulbils that develop new\nbulbs and provide more flowers in the following season. A clump of daffodils\nwill increase in sixe from one season to the next. In time, the clump can be\ncome crowded, and the gardener can dig up the bulbs for replanting over a\nlarger area, or gift them to friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturalize\nThemselves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some varieties will develop seeds and sow them\nnaturally to form additional populations of plants Over a few seasons, they can\nspread throughout a meadow area, providing a stunning display. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free of\nPests and Diseases <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bulbs\nand foliage of daffodils are poisonous to most pests, because all parts of the\nplant includes the toxic chemical, lycorine. Consequently, the plants have\nminimal problem with deer, gophers or other rodents. If such pests tend to\nfavor your garden, daffodils will provide a fine display without the\nexpectation that plants will disappear when you\u2019re not looking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daffodils\nare not immune to diseases, and basal rot and fungi could attack the plants, as\nwill as nematodes, bulb flies, or viruses. However, plants grown in good soil\nwith good drainage, and regular care generally will resist such difficulties. The\nreferences listed below include helpful information about managing such\nproblems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easy to\nPlant <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daffodil\nbulbs are planted three times the width of the bulb apart, three times the\nwidth of the bulb deep. They can be planted singly, with a trowel or other\ntool, or in groups by removing the desired amount of soil from the planting\narea, positioning the bulbs, then replacing the soil. Each gardener has a\nfavorite planting method. In any case, planting a large number of daffodil\nbulbs can be accomplished quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, here are recommendations of Becky Fox Matthews a past president of the American Daffodil Society:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Daffodil Society<\/a> – The ADS is :The AmericanCenter for Daffodil Information” providing rich resources on its website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Daffseek<\/a> – A online photo database with an incredible amount of features (different languages, photos from all over the world, daffodil genealogy and more), made free to the public by the American Daffodil Society;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daffnet <\/a>– A discussion forum for For people interested in growing, showing, or hybridizing daffodils<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dafflibrary<\/a> – Books, articles and journal about daffodils<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dafftube <\/a>– Slide presentations and video recordings, many of which were presented originally during national or regional meetings of the American Daffodil Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to Becky Fox Matthews for sharing these links. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another useful source of information is the website of England\u2019s The Daffodil Society<\/a>. The Society was established in 1898 as the specialist society of Great Britain for all who are interested in the Genus Narcissus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Daffodil bulbs will be available now, and through most of the fall months from local garden centers and several mail order nurseries. Several mail order nurseries throughout the United States will offer daffodil bulbs. An Internet search for \u201cdaffodil bulbs\u201d will list several sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many gardeners will favor west coast suppliers on the premise that they grow their bulbs under conditions like those of the local area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, I will list Brent and Becky\u2019s Bulbs<\/a>, located in Gloucester, VA, not the west coast. This family business began in the early 1900s as a daffodil specialist and has since grown to offer over 1,000 varieties of bulbs. Daffodils continue to be their favorite product, and they offer many beautiful cultivars. Their website also offers solid advice on cultivation. Click on the menu for \u201cMedia.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t\nalready have daffodils in your garden, this is the time to select and order\ncultivars that speak to you, and plant the bulbs in preparation for a\ndelightful display in the spring. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right now is a good time of the year to plant spring-flowering bulbs. There are many available varieties for venturesome gardeners to consider, and we regularly recommend trying unfamiliar botanical treasures. Today\u2019s column features daffodils, which could well be the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[186],"tags":[199,33],"class_list":["post-3226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays-2018","tag-daffodils","tag-geophytes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2WCVL-Q2","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3226"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3230,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3226\/revisions\/3230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}