Planting Daffodils deeply, good idea or not?

I was thinking about how deeply to plant daffoldils for best getting them to naturalize. Basicly, I was wondering if you planted them deeper if it was better for getting them to naturalize. You know similar to the idea that if you plant the tulips deeper (about 10 inches) they are more likely to come back year after year. I have never planted my daffs that deep. In fact what would you think would be the best depth? I think I plant mine around 7 inches.

I want to do this right this coming fall as I have bough about 190 daffs from Brent and Beckies. In batches of ten of all sorts of fancy ones. Before this I have only had the unlabled mixed daffs that I buy locally at the big box stores.

Rita, I would think 6-7" would be perfect, or roughly 2-3 times the height of the bulb - I don't think planting daffodils deeper would drive the outcome in the same way that it might for tulips to promote perennialization - in fact daffodils are known for strong return just about everywhere with a defined winter and some don't even need that. I know tulips are recommended for deep planting especially in the southern limits for better return, but I have not heard that regarding northern gardens. I would think your bigger issue would be ensuring they don't receive too much water in the summer as dryness seems to help promote return. I actually have a few patches of tulips even here that are returning and one small patch for 4 years now - and I am in an area not known for good tulip return. I would also be worried that planting too deep might expose them to more moisture depending on where your water table is and that might be detrimental to any bulb. Just my thoughts; hopefully someone else will chime in.

This message was edited Mar 31, 2010 7:06 AM

I planted some of my daff's too deep & they never bloom.

ants

Humm, I didn't think of that. I don't see why daffs would be so different from most other bulbs. Doesn't seem like anything bad happens, like no bloom, for tulips or summer bulbs like gladiolias.

Steve- We are very high here. The water table must be way undeground, not an issue. Last year it rained so much that I never had to water my garden. Only watered things in pots or something newly planted. Luckily, it didn't seem to bother the daffs as they are back this spring.

I was just wondering if there was an extra secret to get them to multiply. I guess its just plant and wait for increase.

Hi, newyorkrita,

I've noticed some daffs lend themselves to naturalizing. Others varieties are more reluctant.

A few varieties recommended by members of the American Daffodil Society include:

"Some varieties which make beautiful drifts and last well are Ice Follies, Tete-a-Tete, Flower Record, Delibes, Unsurpassable, Barrett Browning, Scarlet Gem, Geranium, Cheerfulness, Peeping Tom, Mount Hood, Spellbinder, Carlton, and Viking. There are many others which will thrive with little care."

And for more info here is an article about Naturalizing Daffs from an ADS member in Indiana:

http://daffodilusa.org/daffodils/naturalizing.html

The key issue I've found is that you have to plant the naturalizing daffs where you won't be mowing the lawn for six weeks after the daff bloom. And the area should be pretty dry in summer. So I have given up on having daffs in the lawn and just have them along the woodland edges and in a vinca/myrtle bed under a deciduous tree, and that works pretty well. (Of course I have them in the flower garden along with hyacinths, too).

Good luck with your project!

Thanks, that is a great article with great tips on naturalizing in the lawn. I am considering doing a lawn planting. However, I am deffinately going to be adding the daffs in my gardenbeds already here and heavily mulched in my very cottage garden.

I planted some daffs in my lawn and they come up every year and look great. Grow fine it seems, don't spread though, but they never have even one bloom. I can't imagine the soil being bad or needing fertilizer or they wouldn't come up and look so nice foliage wise. Any ideas on why they don't bloom? I don't know about the depth of them, maybe will check on that? The ones in my beds bloom great, but they area a different variety.

Humm, don't know. Too crowded maybe?

nope, I will see if I can get a pic tomorow and maybe that will help, I will check the depth too, maybe that will help. I know I planted a bunch last fall and all bloomed generously, but I was too lazy to plant them very deep, maybe 3 or 4 inches at the most. They were pretty large bulbs too.
I will see what I can figure out. The grass isn't really thick in this area, so I don't think that would hurt them either. I am just stumped...

A few ideas for troubleshooting:

1. Leaves cut off too soon last year after bloom so that the plant couldn't replenish the bulb. (they need about 8 wks of leaves post bloom)
2. Not enough sunshine:
3. Not enough moisture just after bloom last year so that growth of bulb was stunted.
4. Could be very late blooming daffs and they aren't showing buds yet.
5. Too much nitrogen fertilizer so that it's too busy making leaves
6. Possibly need a little more fertilizer for bulbs, say a 5-10-5 (not much nitrogen) and will make blooms next year.
7. Newly planted bulbs sometimes take a little time to get into rythym and they could just be late this year.

Well, just don't throw them away; I am sure that next year you will get some bloom if they are kept relatively dry over this summer and are well situated.

Good luck! t.

well I have had mine planted for 5 or 6 years.
I do cut them off probably 4 weeks or so after 'blooming' ( they don't bloom!) but the foliage always come back nice, so I don't think that is it.
Plenty of water, it rained and rained and rained last year to the point I had stuff rot...
I think I will just dig and move them. They get plenty of sun, my tomatoes and tulips did fine there. So I am just going to move them and see if that works...

4 weeks may not be enough time for the foliage to remain attached, so that could be it. They'll grow nice foliage regardless. Some varieties are better suited to some areas than others, I have a few that seem to be diminishing among others that get better every year.

Ok well I will move them into a bed where they won't get mowed, they are around a propane tank now, in the lawn. hubby just can't resist mowing off that ratty stuff lol
but he usually does leave it a month or so.

I bet that's it then. Research says leave leaves 6 to 8 weeks after bloom for a decent bloom return following year.

Also, you might give them a dose of liquid fertilizer for flowers (low in nitrogen and high in P and K, like 'superbloom') before they bloom next year.

Good luck!

I bet thats it too , also I would add a little bulb food when you move them, I use bulb tone by epsoma . when I was a young gardener I saw in a book a method of naturalizing daffodils by tossing them on the lawn and planting them where they landed . It looked so nice in the book but the book didn't have my "Johny on the spot" husband to contend with, He could not leave them alone . He takes pride in his organic lawn and having those long ratty daffodil leaves strewn all about was to much for him . since then I have mercifully kept my bulbs out of his lawn ( except for some scillia that seems to be ok with an early mowing) and every one its happy . : )

I planted mine about 10 years ago and they are naturalizing. I let the leaves die down completely before doing anything with them -- they are not in the lawn so don't have to worry about them being mowed.

Believe me, mine aren't planted very deep as the soil here is very rocky, with a layer of shale, just below the surface. We laugh and say that an Arkansas shovel is a pick axe!

Mine ALWAYS got mowed down, with the first mowing, and it didn't affect the blooming one bit. They were always beautiful. Igot mine from deserted homeplaces in the country, and set them at the same depth as they were taken from the ground. I knew you weren't supposed to cut them, but my ex would do as he wanted! He also "helped" me by trimming all the "dead" wood from the Hydrangea, so very few blooms, till I convinced him not to trim them!

Audrey, in traveling through the south, you can see abandoned homes with daffodils blooming profusely! The ones you got were probably extremely hardy. I have sometimes thought of digging some up myself. DH would have a fit if I asked him to do that. I have thought about carrying a shovel in the car for that purpose, but I am sure that idea would have gotten shot down, too!

one cultivar that I have had amazing luck with is Ice Follies I bought about 10 of them and planted them in a circle probably 10 years ago they flowered for several years then one year they had very few blooms . I dug up the clump and there must have been 100 bulbs I moved clums all over my yard , gave some away and they have just kept multiplying

well no wonder lol just look at your dirt! :)

I have great luck with ice follies too, and it starts out a yellow color in the center and then turns white all over. Very nice one!