Most reliable Daffodil for the Seattle, Washington area?

I love these daffys. Only thing is: I do not know which is the better bulb, if there is such a thing.

So far, based only on availability, I've planted:

Trumpet Daffodils

King Affred

Dutch Master and Ice King

Sempre Avanti and

Scarlett Royal

If anyone has suggestions on Sure Blooming Daffodils, I'd like to hear about them.



Jennifer

Gardening Zone 8b

I love 'Thalia' - beautiful creamy white color.

Costco has had some great bulbs this year, lots of narcissus. I bought some Mount Hood (creamy white), some Rip Van Winkle (very early blooming), Salome' (White w/peach trumpet), King Alfred, Golden Harvest, and some naturalizing mixes. Yesterday, though, I discovered Costco has a new, different supply of bulbs, and they had the most wonderful white and pink collection of daffodils! $12.79 gets you 75 bulbs -- Chromacolor, Salome (didn't really need more of those, but here they are), Accent, Precocious, and Spring Pride. All are white with pink (probably more of a salmon pink than the bag shows) trumpets. I also bought a bag of 75 double daffodils, but there's no info on each type. There are some all yellow, some all white, white with orange, and yellow with orange. Very nice...check it out, if you're in the market for narcissus!

Well, wished our Costco had them. My neighbor just went there today and she said they only had a new shipment of some tulips. I would love some of those daff. you list, Shultman. Good job on getting a lot for good money.
Carol

I've bought many a bulb at costco and they have some nice bulbs at great prices. But be aware that sometimes they don't turn out to be exactly what is pictured. I've only had this happen on elephant ears, but I did a trade with someone thinking I was trading her one variety of ee and it turned out to be another. Still, the prices make it worth it. Have fun planting. Are you getting this nasty rain up there?

What nasty rain? :)

Of course. It started last night.

Elephant ears? That's a new one for me. Didn't see any of those at Costco, so now I'm jealous! Besides just tulips and narcissus, I found a lot of nice Alliums (Globemaster, Gladiator, White Ivory, Nectaroscordum (I know-- no longer considered an Allium)), Dutch and German Irises, several types of Anemones, a couple types of Muscari, Chionodoxa, Scilla, some big Fritillarias, Puschkinia, Hyacinths, and lots of different crocuses. And, yeah, with many of them 50 (tulips, daffodils) to 100 (anemones) bulbs per bag for $9, it's a heck of a buy.

We got thoroughly soaked all morning, then only moderately soaked through the afternoon. Didn't get as much as I'd hoped planted, but small wonder considering the weather. We worked from 8:30am to 6:30pm (with a little time out for lunch)...miserable.

I got a bag of those Nectaroscordum, too. They look really nice and the bulbs seemed a good size. I planted them all along the rear of my main perennial bed. (one of them, anyway) You are going to have a pretty spring at your house! Oh, and I got the EE's last year. don't know if they had them or not this year.

I went back today to Costco, because I'm tired of hearing that my tulips are likely to only last a year. I bought some Specie tulips, and returned some Parrot types. I now have three varieties of long-lived tulips, but the bulbs are quite small. Had to buy a smaller wire mesh to build the cages. Here's hoping all this effort is worthwhile!

I plan to take many pictures next spring...especially if it's true that I may not see many of these flowers the following year.

You won't regret the species tulips. And around here, some people just treat the hybrid tulips like annuals - they plant the ones they want every year and that way they get to enjoy all kinds of varieties.

Just received my order from John Scheepers and it is outstanding! the bulbs are very healthy and not a spec of mold on any of them! Plus they come in really nice little mesh bags which will be very useful for storing things.

My tulips come back every year - give them fast drainage & an annual application of nice fertilizer.
I grow them for cutting, because it's generally too wet when they bloom & I don't like soggy tulips.
The species type are great - just not as showy. They naturalize well here. Again, I think the drainage situation is the key.

Yes, drainage is definitely the key, and also getting tulips that are not hybridized so much that they only do well for a year or two.

I've bought more of the Dutch Master and Ice King Daffofils.

What I don't know: The most hardy Daffodil.

Or the most fragrant. I'd settle for that.

Lee - in regards to your original query concerning Daffodils:

Most are reliable, & like other bulbs, need good drainage. I have grown a wide variety of them, but I can't tell you ablout which are the best for our area because I have found consistency in quality across the spectrum. Are you seeking yellow - white- bicolor?
I think the reason some of the older varieties are still popular is that they have stood the test of time. King Alfred & Mount Hood are two of my Trumpet Daf favorites. For Large cup: Ice Follies, Sweet Harmony & Stainless.
Triandrus, Jonquils & the Poeticus are all fragrant - depending on one's sense of smell. I have grown alot of these, preferring the jonquils to the others. I hope this was of some help - I can't remember which were the most fragrant - too many to remember!

What I want: White Doubles. After that bi-color and then Fragrant ones.

King Alfred - that's good to know, as I've planted lots of those. ;)

Doubles: White Lion, Ice King, Erlicher, Obdam, Gay Kybo (wh. Perianth w/ orange corona segments), Acropolis (white perianth w/ orange -red), Irene Copeland. Well, that ought to get you started!
Most doubles are fragrant - some more than others. I think that as long as we have typical winter weather, any Daf will perform well for you. I do like to pot mine up for the first year as I never have enough time to get them in the ground. When they bloom I place the pot where I think they will show best. I leave them there & plant in-ground after they are finished; hopefully the spent foliage will be somewhat hidden by emerging perennials.
Google bi-color dafs & start a list: there are LOTS to choose from. The best to you!

A typical winter. Oh, yes.

It's been interesting this past week.


Jennifer (Leehalfae)

Seattle