Interest in a Daffodil swap?

Hi bulb lovers!

Being one of the best bulbs for increasing in the garden, and one that can't be beat for trouble free, early spring color, I got the bright idea to do a Daffodil swap! This could be a fun way to try varieties that are new to us. I think this should be a good time to start planning, so as the foliage starts to die off we can get bulbs dug.

It wouldn't really matter how many you have to send, I would just make sure each participant receives back as many bulbs as they sent. I think we should stipulate that they be blooming size bulbs. Some smaller bulbs tossed in to bags along with the larger ones would be fine I think, but the count listed should be blooming size bulbs. Bulb size varies a lot between varieties and according to where they're grown (I've never harvested anything near the size of Dutch bulbs I've purchased- after a few years in the garden, golf ball size is about as big as I find), but we can tell when digging them which ones are mature. The good thing about that is they're easier to plant!... and more will fit in a box :-)

Perhaps we could bag the bulbs with, say 10 bulbs per bag, and send as many bags as you'd like to receive back. I'm open to any suggestions on the details. Each participant could include postage in the amount they spent sending- flat rate boxes are certainly the easiest to deal with that way, as some may weigh out heavier in returning.

Its a go! Here's the official swap thread:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/994782/

Neal



This message was edited May 28, 2009 2:45 PM

Neal, I would be interested!! Thanks

Thought I'd give this a bump!

Thanks stormy. I think I'll post this in the trading forums too, and try and round up as many interested folks as possible. Hope we can drum up some interest :-)

Gemini, Just put a link in MidAtlantic. May not get much at first, folks there are busy dodging the rain trying to get ready for the swap.

Gemini, I might be interested. I'd have to look around and see what I have. Off hand the only thing I can think of that I could ID right now would be my Easter Bonnet and some ordinary Yellow Daffs. I love the idea

Holly, do you have a pic of your yellow daffs? When ordering, I tend to go for those that are somewhat unique (to my eye at least), and overlook old standby varieties. So don't shy away because they may seem too common to you.

Not sure if I have a pic of them or not, I'll look. They are an old standard and I like them. They are tall and bright and I think give a nice backdrop to the newer flasher varieties. I have a large group of them that will need to be removed this summer when we repair the patio. So they will be coming out sometime soon. Ric calls them King Alfred's but I don't know for sure if that is what they are.

AH, Here they are. Plain in comparison to the newer varieties,but to my eye very pretty.

Flower heads at 21 inches.

Very pretty Holly! I've read that most daffs sold as King Alfred (or Improved King Alfred as most catalogs list) are actually either Unsurpassable or other yellow trumpets. Yours looks like it may be Carlton, a good standby performer.

I like to spread the good multipliers around the farther reaches of the yard, and keep the special ones up close to the house where I can see the detail. I agree they make a great backdrop for the newer varieties.

LOL! Some of us like our King Alfred's front & center!!!

But maybe they're not really King Alfreds. What do you think, Gemini?

Stormy, after reading about the original King Alfred on Old House Gardens site, I think they're actually pretty uncommon in commerce today. Makes me think yours may actually be Unsurpassable. The trumpets on yours look longer than those Holly posted. You just can't go wrong with traditional yellow daffodils :-)

Thanks, Gemini. These are such great daffs, no fragrance, but they are 24" and never flop. They multiply like crazy. I divide them every year and spread them around. If they are all mislabled, I suppose, we'll be swapping by photo.

Stormyla, That bed is so beautiful. I never did get back to post pics of my Easter Bonnets. I would also have these to swap.

These are a great multiplier also I have tons of them from only a few that I bought years ago. They were my first "fancy" daffs.

Holly, I'll probably want some of those!

Gemini, Do you know what this very old variety is? I'll have lots of them to swap.

Here's another shot of them.

Very pretty stormy! Looks like they could be either Bell Song or Elizabeth Ann. Just checked plantfiles and noticed you had submitted the pic of Elizabeth Ann (yours has nicer color to the cups than mine do), but look at these pics of Bell Song:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/98265/

Gemini, I'm about to write to Admin about that photo. It is not Elizabeth Ann. This is Elizabeth Ann. Is this closer to yours?

I think that is closer to mine, but the color is still nicer on yours. The pinks seem to vary quite a bit depending on location and temps. You must be in a good place to grow the pink ones :-) The color was better on my pinks last year, guess it was a cooler spring.

As I've been posting photos on different forums several people have expressed interest in this daff. It's a late one & I love it.

I've never labled my daffs. I buy them in lots of 50 and more, but mix them all through out my beds in groups of 5.

I will have to get all of my bulb receipts out & label them. For those that I've bought in bags off of a store shelf, I'll try to match them through PF photos.

For heirloom varieties, I've bought several large amounts from people's gardens via Ebay, often unidentified. I'll have to rely on some Daff afficionados for help with them. Holly, I think that we will have to get DayLilyDiva over to this thread.

Stormyla, I like the look of that one,

I think that's one I've seen growing at old house sites. Its fragrant isn't it?

Nice idea! I'm not sure if I've got any clumps I'll need to dig & divide this year... but maybe we'll do this again next year...

:-)

Gemini, I don't know. Not enough that I noticed while standing in the bed. Maybe as the clumps get larger, any scent would be more pronounced.

I've got quite a bit of this "LasVegas". It looks and acts just like "Ice Follies" It's an early tall daff. The cups start out deep orange, then turn gold, fading to a lemon yellow and finally pure white. Stands strong & tall.

Another 2 daffs that I can't tell apart are Fortissimo & 4U2. I have both growing in my garden, in large lots. But they all look the same to me and I've forgotten where I planted either one.

Here is 4U2 http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/BDAFU.html

This one I'm sure is Fortissimo.

I would love to be a part of this.
The bulbs I have are rescue bulbs from an old homestead and I have no idea what they are. But I got so many that I don't care what kind anyone sends in return either. When y'all are ready to have the swap, I'll separate them out and see how many I have. It's a huge clump. They are mostly a plain, small 2" flower, but some of the clumps I planted had a couple doubles that were on the whitish side in them. I planted about 10 - 12 large clumps and would have planted more if I had had some help. The digging them up was breaking my back!
I must have saved hundreds! And the worst part is, I didn't get them all. I just ran out of energy and places to put them and people that would take them and plant them. They had grass growing in and out of them and people just didn't want to bother. I was torture seeing the backhoes and bulldozers finishing off the last half of them.

Anyway, maybe someone is looking for some generic small bulbs and wants to get rid of some other generic bulbs. I'm very, flexible.

3gardeners, That's wonderful. I'm sure someone will be interested. Can you post photos of any?

I was in such a hurry to get the masses of them in that I didn't photo them before the blooms faded. I thought of it as soon as they were gone. I was so mad at myself. That's why I can only trade with someone that doesn't care what kind of small, yellow variety they get and just would be interested in trading me a medium to larger yellow or any size whiter variety no-named kind.

And if no one is interested, that's ok to. I understand. I just saw this and happen to have a big ball of bulbs heel-in in the back yard and thought, "Hey, maybe this might be something to do with them."

Well, Certainly someone may be interested!!

I would be fine with any daffs. I have those plain yellow ones are they taller (21 inches) than you have? Plus my Easter Bonnets.

3gardeners, I could use some short yellows too. They'd be nice along my garden path.

The greenery has already died back on them so as soon as Neal has things lined up as to how he wants to put this thing in order, I'll follow his lead. I'll go start separating them. Of course these are smaller bulbs since they are small flowers and only get about 12-14 inches high.

I planted some King Alfreds this past fall. OMG! These were the biggest daffodil bulbs I have ever seen. They were about 2.75" in diameter and flat on one side. And the flowers, spectacular. I live on the edge of a city called Smyrna, nicknamed the Jonquil City, and every fall they sell large bags of bulbs. This year it was King Alfreds. If I can ever find the cord that connects my camera to my computer, I'll post the photos of them and y'all will have and exact photo of them.

I was just at the Keukenhof Gardens in Holland and they were having a daffodil show in one of the conference centers. Wow! We had a daffodil show here at the Botanical Gardens in Atlanta, and it really was great, but the one in Holland was huge. I took so many photos.... Again, sure wish I could find that darn cord!!

Find the cord!! Or get one of those USB memory card readers for downloading photos. I'm so glad you got to the Keukenhof. :-)

My little yellow no-name daffs from Gemini_Sage are the highlight of my island daff bed (see photo)... they form a ring around Jim's mimosa tree. They've multiplied well, too, and I'll probably need to divide them next year. I put a few clumps of 'Minnow' daffs with them, and they've done well too. It was the second year for the back border with clumps of daffs, so no need to divide them yet, but they're doing well also. And the Rip van Winkle daffs in a little front bed have multiplied from little clumps to an entire ring of blooms this spring! So although I'm sitting this one out, I hope we'll have a swap next year... I think I'll be digging quite a few different ones. :-)

I will also have quite a bit of this to trade. It is a medium height early daff. I think I can find the name of this one.

They're both beautiful.

I love all daffodils, but since I dug and replanted so many of these, I'm afraid they will be too plain. I saw so many of them that I got kinda tired of them...I think the big word here is tired. I'd hate to dissapoint anyone with these plain little daffodils. They are NOT miniatures. Just small daffodils.

Personally, I think I'm going to have a specatular bed up against my house next spring. That's going to be because of the volume. But when swapping I'm always worried about making sure the person on the other end is absolutely aware of what they are getting. Like when I send out some of my millions of hellebore seedlings. It takes 2 years for them to bloom and you never know what color your going to get.

Well, I guess now we just wait until Neal to say he's heard from all interested?

3gardeners, YES! Those little heirlooms are some of the best naturalizers, and are only sold by few vendors these days. I think they'll be a great addition to the swap :-)

Jill, your Daffs have multiplied nicely- lookin' good!

stormy, I love those in that last pic! What a lovely form!