Prolific, carefree daffodils

I'm a new member but have been gardening for 70 years. Problem: I'm on my condo's landscape committee and want to find more daffodils. Criteria: rapid multipliers, yellow/ orange needed at present. So far we've put in Ice Follies,Tete-a-tete and Jetfire. We need an early yellow or y/orange and also late. I like Geranium, but does it naturalize well? Guess you could say I need big and showy.
We have also planted scilla siberica and chionodoxa. I just found out this year why the scillas are found throughout the lawn-when the flowers have been fertilized they start to droop toward the ground. The ants love the seed casings so they take chunks home to the nest; the seeds drop off on the way. I have some scillas fifteen feet from my garden!

February Gold daff--very early, easy, great reproducer, and reliable naturalizer.
=)

Hello neighbor!
I'm not able to contribute to an answer but will say thank you for starting the thread. I'll be following it carefully in order to see what to order!

Have you found any tulips that adapt well here? That's one of my most frustrating challenges. Finding tulips that actually perennialize here.

I've found 'Geranium' to increase and perennialize well; I've had them for 20 years or more. I've had 'Fortissimo' for 2 years, so I can't report on their longevity, but they are very showy and so far look like they'll be good, permanent performers. They have increased well in those 2 years. 'Tahiti' is a nice, mid season double, but there again I haven't had them long enough to report on how well they naturalize.

One I would recommend against is 'Professor Einstein'. It naturalizes well, but the stems are weak and no matter where I've grown it the blooms always end up laying on the ground.

We need Illoquin, one of our resident daff experts to chime in! I'll bring this thread to her attention :-)

Neal

Yellow Cheerfulness has been doing well for me, here... it has smaller flowers but multiples on a stem, like Geranium, and it's a later bloomer.

Hi ,

Neal sent me! :)

Geranium is a good multiplier/naturalizer, so is Cragford, and as Critter says, so is Yellow Cheerfulness. From a distance of 25 feet, Cragford & Yellow Cheerfulness all about the same color, so don't be swayed by an "orange" cup on them. ALL are highly fragrant and should be considered for that reason alone. They are also pretty tall.

Here are some yellow and orange daffodils that are in the Dutch trade now. I have no idea on prices, though. All of them should naturalize well. The increase is what I'm not sure of. I have grown them all, but I don't really remember about the bulb increase. You could probably choose 3 or 4 and email Becky at Brent and Becky's bulbs and see if she knows about the bulb increase? I think they all increase pretty well because they grow pretty well. Bulb Growers in Holland doesn't waste their resources on bulbs that under perform.

Ceylon - this is an old one but a good one from England.

Fortissimo - this is a big flower, often misshapen, but you probably don't care about that. The brightest of the group. Most commmon in the group.

Modern Art - the oraage on this is most visible of the group, but I bet it's the most expensive of the group.

Monal - this is one of the very earliest flowering yellow/oranges in the garden. The second largest in the grou. Bred in Oregon. Nice flower.

Pinza - very old, the orange is only on the rim, but it's a dark red-orange.

Serola - this is the second brightest and has a much better form than Fortissimo, but is smaller.

Sorry I don't know more.

Suzy

How is 'Kissproof' as an increaser? I got some last year, and I love the brilliant orange cup on them... the petals aren't bright yellow (mine look almost white) if you're looking for yellow/orange, but the orange will really knock your socks off.

I also really liked the yellow/orange on the double daff 'Tahiti', but I'm not sure of how well it does over time... I think I've heard mixed reports, but figured I'd give it a try with a few bulbs anyway last fall.

Oh, Tahitit increases well! It does not grow in sod (naturalize) very well, though. The petal colors are washed out and it isn't a bright yellow, and you can't see the orange form 25 feet away.

Suzy

Thank you all! I should have indicated somewhere that I'm supposed to be in zone 6. I'm still finding my way around the site. Is 'Cragford' reliably hardy here?