Need help with 100's of Narcissus (Daffodils?)

Hi, I need to know how to store or keep bulbs etc. I was going with my daughter to pick up her son and we drove down an old country road. Growing in the ditches, were hundreds of daffodils (Just wanted you to know it wasn't at someone's house) lol WE stopped and dug them ;up till we couldn't move, still bunches all up and down that road.

There is no way to plant them all, don't have enough family and friends to take them too. I would like to know what I can do with them so when someone does want them, they will be good. Maybe even could use for trades.

Mainly, just don't want them to go to waste. One reason we dug so many is because the movers and "diggers" are coming in that direction adn they'll end up in the back of a dumpster.

Anyway can you help me or tell me where to go for info.

Lorraine, put them into pots if you can, alot will fit in pots, otherwise they will dry up. They need the leaves they have to make the vitamins for next year so don't cut those off. Let them stay on till they are brown.. they will survive in rocky places too, just make a long trench and put them all in there, until you can figure out what to do with them.. I wish I lived near you , I'd go dig them all up..lol

Hey, we just went down one road!!! Think what else is out there!!
Thanks Gourd. Someone said "Miss Martha Stewart" said to braid the tops and then dry them and put them into baggies with dirt?

Sound right?

i am not an expert, but this is what i did with bulbs that i didnt want to plant yet. i just found an out-of-the way area in my back yard, dug some holes and plopped them in. covered them as usual and watered. not the most original solution, but i know where they are for when i decide what to do with them. i tried keeping some in bags and they started to dry out. bulbs need water and sunlight to regenerate for the next bloom cycle. anyway, that is my recommendation. oh, i am like you guys, if i had found them, i would have spent all day digging! i love to "find" great new plants/bulbs!

tracie

I would either do as tracie said or put them in pots!! Great find!!

want some postage for some of them?? LOL if that sounds good to you, let me know!!!

het Marie, how are you today/ I'm only on for a few, then it's movie time......

Darn it, Lorraine, I had a whole answer written and my (gritted teeth) dear daughter came and borrowed the computer for a minute and "accidentally" lost my page. But I said basically the same thing, treat them like any other plant, let the foliage grow as long as possible to store the sun's energy via photosynthesis. I also said that there are people up here (Martha included) who spend a of of time trying to look "natural" but that Nature has the last word on looking natural! Would you send some for postage, or look over my trade list? xx, Carrie

I don't know, I don't know Martha Stewart..lol..

Just kidding..

You probably could braid them, but I would not put them into bags at this time, i would pot them up.. or ... Lorraine, the nice thing about potting bulbs up is that you can do it in layers, put those way at the bottom 6 inches, then put soil and put more bulbs in the next few inches, then more plants on top, then seeds, you can do a lot with pots. I;ve got tulips and daffs and iris in some pots and plants at the same time. You can do it...

Ok, these are plants, not just the bulbs.
I couldn't put anything on top of them so do I cut the tops off. Oh, I'm being lazy, I'll just stick them in the ground. If I'm going to ship ya'll some, can I do it now. That's what I'm the most worried abaout is giving some one daffs that aren't good.

I'm going to try and get back over there tomorrow and get more. I had to half these with my daughter and then my daughter in law showed up, so there isn't as many as at first. BUT I WILL SEND YA'LL SOME Is 10 or so enough? I'll send more if I can get over there soon. I knew when I was huffing and puffing digging them up that I should have kept going.!!!

I just want to send you a lot. We planted or at least put dirt over what we have, so they will be ok while I get some more.

If I'm going to send them, do I take the tops off, put them in a little dirt and leaves (like Gourd said) and ship them like they are?

i wouldnt cut the foliage. again, they need that to store energy for next years blooms. i am pretty new to bulbs, but i dont think they will put on a lot of new growth if you cut them completely back. i may be wrong and maybe someone with more experience that me with bulbs will chime in here. maybe you could give them a little haircut to help them fit into the box. i have been trading quite a few bulbs and i never put them in anything like dirt or leaves. it seems to me that it will only increase the postage and is not really necessary. i just put in a cushion of crumpled newspaper, stack the bulbs, then put more newpaper to cushion and keep them from moving around too much. so far, everyone has gotten their bulbs just fine, with no damage and any other problems. bulbs are tougher than most plants and shipping shouldnt take more than 2 or 3 days by priority mail.


tracie

just thought since we were talkin daffs, would send you one of my latest bloomers, Gentle Giant, it really lives up to its name!

If you've got them in the ground, I'd say that's the best place for them now. Let the foliage feed the bulb, and then the leaves will die back over the summer. Mark where they are, or you won't find them again until they come up in spring! You can dig and ship them in fall, if you have extras to share/trade... I think that's probably better than trying to ship them now. Having their leaves cut off or getting shocky from the move and missing some of this season's feeding of the bulb won't do them in, IMO, but you might not get wonderful blooms next year... however, the year after I'll bet they'll bloom like gangbusters!

What a great "rescue!" Way to go, Lorraine! :-)

I love that picture!! I don't think I've ever seen one like that!!! I love daffs, but These are just the ones with the light yellow and the dark yellow in the middle.

I guess it would be just as well to get them in the ground and then dig them up if I'm going to mail some then, right? I'd love to share them.

I've never come across something so fun!! ourse I didn't think of it as a rescue, I was just thinking of all those bulbs I'd have. Yeah, I know , I have no heart, But I do have daffodils now, lol

I don't know anything about bulbs except I love them, stick them in the ground and hope. Funny how those always seem to come back, all the stuff I "take care of" don't make it. Too much TLC I guess.!!

Yeah, Lorraine, don't cut off the leaves, just braid them together to mail them off, or just wrap/roll them in newspapers and mail out, do not wet them either.. This is so exciting, I wish this happened to me at least once in my life time..lol

I keep hearing about people finding all these neat plants and things, and I'm always so jealous. Now, I won't be quite so much.
I'm one of those who never has anything like that happen. I usually get there 10 minutes after some one else!!!

My problem is not being able to be happy about my "find" cause I keep thinking of all the ones I left behind. These were in clumps kind of. You know you dig it up and there's probably 10 or more little bulbs, I guess that is ok, hope so.

Hi LorraineR,
Been reading this thread and I too am jealous of some of the "finds" when some people are there at the right time hand place... and make out smelling like a ROSE...lol
I sure would like to join in on your good fortune if you decide that you will give some of these to another good home ...mine would feel blessed. I love all bulbs too !! Please let me know if you are willing to trade or would send for postage..
Thanks,
Becky

But if you don't get back out there, Lorraine, make sure you plant plenty in your own garden to enjoy... sounds like you've already given 3/4 of your "haul" away to your daughter and DIL, so I'm not sure you're still in that "no way to plant them all, have to find people willing to take them" place. They'll multiply (daffs do), and you can share them again later! :-)

They should probably watch their beds really close, they may see a woman dressed in black getting her bulbs back.

Oh there will be enough. I'm going to go back tomorrow. Some of them are just about 1/8 mile from me!!!

I'm just going to plant them in the clumps like they were when I pulled them out. (yes, I used a shovel first, just pulled out at the last minute, didn't want ya'll to h ave a stroke thinking of me just jerking them out.)
Anyway, if that'as not ok to do, someone stop me!!!!

My DIL is always bringing me some kind of plant over here, so I had to give her some. It was hard to let me go, but she brought me a few tulips, I guess it's ok. My daughter sat in the get a way car while I dug.
It was perfectly fine to do it, but we still had this "we're bad" feeling

Sounds like a great plan,

Good plan! The only reason to separate them would be if they've gotten really crowded so that new bulbs are smaller and don't bloom well... but even then, I'd plant them as they are to just do their thing this season. If the clumps don't bloom well next year, you can always dig, separate, and replant before fall of 2009.

I'd be going with you if I could, but we'd need somebody else to drive the gettaway car... I'd want to dig! :-)

This is true, although it did look funny with me out digging and Kathryn sitting in the car!!!
You should come on down. You could hold the shotgun.

I wish I could - any good snorkeling down there, LOL? xx, Carrie

Actually there is. My son goes a lot.!!! lol

hI,
your best bet is to just heel them in till spring, dig a "Ditch and lay them on their sides and come them with soil, make sure the foliage is sticking out as the bulb will still draw energy 'food off the dying foliage. I would not braid the foliage of any bulb as it tends to set them back and injure the foliage. They are very easy to dig back up in the fall or summer when the bulb goes dormat as they are not planted deep.
I had to heel in a pile of tulips and daffs and other specialty bulbs last spring when we moved. And it does really work well. I dug them up in the fall and replanted them. And they are doing terrific!
Kathy

So, I lay them down jorizontal, don't go deep, Just cover. Leave some of the foliage out and then just wait? Sounds easy enough lol. Think I can do that. I went ahead after I got them and just stuck them in the ground like they were when I dug them up. Then I thought, they'll be so close, the bulbs won't grow. So if I lay them down, I need to put them down singly. I think it is already summer here. 85 couple days ago

Betcha didn't think there was anyone so dumb about bulbs

I don't think it would hurt anything to have them as they were . Just so the foliage is allowed to ripen, after the foliage dies you can dig em up and let them dry for a day or two in the sun ( if you have squirrels though BEWARE, I lost a pile I had just left to dry in the sun on a table outside, if you have a sunny room that is better yet) and you can divide and replant or whatever. Laying them down on their side so to speak just makes digging them back up a breeze.
Now if you have that perfect spot for them and you want to plant them in place now, that's fine. But if not or if you wanted to give them away or move them later and still be sure of having nice daff flowers next spring I would heel them in and let them ripen.
No, your not dumb, we all have to learn somewhere. I had to read and read, mainly the old Crockett gardening books and magazines and then go and do it myself. Just to be sure the method would really work for me.
Kathy

I would be a bulb nut if I learned about them, so I guess I'd better stay away from them

And yes, I do want to give some away, and our mixed seed trades are going to do a bulb one in Oct. I think Gourd already put up a little bit about it.

Bulbs are fairly easy once you become famliar with them and can adhere to their schedule and when you can't there is usually a solution. Never leave seed heads develop for bigger bulbs and better bloom the next year since most bulbs multiply under the ground anyway. There are so many beautiful bulbs you just can't stay away from them , don't give up.
We have a patch of daffs in our woods that I spotted last year when we moved and forgot about till this winter and like you I am going with hubby in tow to dig them up, I just hope they are not those minature double white daffs that are all over the place here, in stiff straight lines , soon I should know.
Good luck with your daffs, sometimes the old roadside "in this cause" ditch daffs are some of the loveliest. Ditch Daff, I kinda like that, I suppose I could call mine bramble daffs.
LOL time for bed!

Cool, you have come up with a two brand new daffs. I like it too, what are those, why they are ditch daffs. Those over there are bramble daffs.

I'm going to bed too.