what are you doing with your tc in the late fall, do you cut it down or let alone? And I tried to grow Daffodils here 3 years in a row to get failed always, but these are my favorit flowers! Please advice. Thank you!
Turks Cap and Daffodils in TX 8a
I don't cut my TC back until winter, after it's died back. Can't help with the daffs as I've never grown them, but plan on planting some this fall.
Last winter when I was looking for daffs to plant here it was recommended that 'Tete-a-Tete' will grow well here. Many of the daffs need a longer cold period than we get here.
I would trust Stephanie on the scullcap, she has shared some of hers with me at past RU's, and they are healthy.
BTW, my parents live in Copperas Cove. Perhaps you know them, Bob & Dianne Shrewsbury?
This message was edited Sep 18, 2011 5:38 PM
Just up the road from you a bit. Daff's have been hit and miss for me over the years. I have several that come back year and after but they are the generic yellows and paper whites. All the "fancy" ones I've tried can't make it in our mild winters. And the ones that do grow, I basically neglect them. I don't dig or divide them. If they continue to return each year and bloom so I try to let them be.
Sorry I don't have better news about our ability to grow daffs here. I feel your pain. I love tulips but I've all but given up on growing them in this zone. (I know I could dig and chill them, etc but I don't deal well with fussy plants).
Daffodils grow well in this area but a common mistake most folks make is mowing them down when done blooming.
If they are mowed, the bulbs do not receive the nutrients needed for blooms and plant growth in the coming season.
If you plant some, make sure to interplant with other green foliage that will hide the yellowing, flopping foliage of the daffodil.
They are a favorite of mine also. It is the first bright, cheerful bloom of spring...
I had excellent results with several kinds of daffodils, when I lived in Houston. Now that I am farther North and East of Houston, I am wondering if more varieties of them will grow? Nothing says Spring (although mine in Houston bloomed twice a year.) like the fragrant trumpets of daffodils!
I'm in zone 7. I leave the Turk's cap and cut it back in the spring. The pink is more fragile than the red. I don't have a problem with daffs, but you might try growing them in pots. That might allow them to get colder. Good luck.
I trim down the Turk's cap around Valentine day. This is the time when I trim down all my perennials.
I never had a problem with daffodils. Mine they come back year after year and they are naturalizing.
I just make sure that I don't remove the leaves untill they are brown.
Check the thread I started last February:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1160358/
In the Dallas area, daffodils grow well--choose the 7's and 8's---mainly the historic daffs that will return year after year. Ice Follies--not historic--is a wonderful repeater and showy in the landscape.
I know that blooming bulb sells prechilled daffies but that just gets you thru one year ,to be truthfull about this I did not know there was any place they wouldn't grow HMMMM live and learn
thank you all for your answers, I wasn.t here a time, just to busy:-)
@ catzgalore, no I do not know them.We are living out of city limit.
@ rampbrat: I planted the daff. last year oct. in a huge container in the suggested depth and with mulch and everything and there came out in spring only 3 of 12 :-(
Did you dig around in the dirt to see if the bulbs were missing?
Might have rotted, perhaps in container they were overwatered.
Just a thought on overwatering. The daffs here stay in hard compacted soil.
When we have drought conditions, they receive no moisture and will still bloom in spring.
yes I watered them very often, maybe thats the cause, thank you!
How deep do I plant daffodil bulbs?
It has been many a year since I planted mine but it seems like it was not very deep with the shoulder of the bulb just under the soil no more than an inch.
Silchast ~ I'm not sure where Copperas Cove is located, but Thad Howards' Bulbs for Warm Climates recommends Daffodil cultivars that bloom in late winter or early spring and those that are resistant to basal rot for the most success. The passalong Daffs I have bloom in Jan or Feb. The wrong cultivar may be part of your trouble.
I have my TG in a large pot because it gets too cold here and I am afraid to loose them. I saw beautiful ones in La that took up a huge wall. Just breathtaking.
Does everyone cunt them back? I have a gardening friend that said I don't need too.
Mickey
Arizona
What do Turk's cap seeds look like, and when do you look for them? I have lots of blooms, a few dead flowers, a couple of big red fruits that look like very small tomatoes where some flowers were, and a lot of empty places where flowers once grew and it looks like seeds might have been. I can't seem to find any on the ground.
The fruits are the Turk's cap seeds, they are inside, they normally fall and reseed themselves.
OMG I am in Hawaii and today I saw TURKS CUP TREES !!
They are just like our perennial turks cup but 5 times bigger and on a tree ... wow !!
Wow!! Would love to see pics!! I googled but couldn't find any tree pics :(
You can pick them now, you will have to take the seeds out of the fresh fruit, or let the fruit dry and then store it, the fruit will mildew if you store it fresh.