After a long cold winter most people who have a garden or flower beds look forward to seeing the very first daffodil to brighten up the dreary winter landscape. If you are planting your first garden choosing to plant at least a few daffodil bulbs in the autumn will give you the enjoyment if those first bright spring flowers.

Planting Those Daffodil Bulbs

Planting those daffodil bulbs should take place in the autumn about 2 or 4 weeks before the ground becomes frozen. Each bulb should be planted individually and covered by at least 3 inches of soil.

Where You Should Plant Your Daffodil Bulbs- You want to plant your bulbs in well drained soil and in a place that gets full sunlight at no more than partial shade.

How Deep Should You Plant Your Daffodil Bulbs- Various experts often give you slightly different answers as to how deep you should plant your daffodil bulbs. Most experts recommend planting your bulbs between 1 ½ and 5 times the depth of the bulb. A good rule of thumb is to plant each individual bulb about 6 inches deep.

Once you have planted those daffodil bulbs you don’t need to dig up the bulbs and can leave them to bloom every spring.

However, if you should want to thin out those daffodil bulbs or move them from area to another, you should remove the bulbs in the summer after the leaves of the plant turn completely yellow. Once you have dug up the bulbs, you need to keep them refrigerated under cooling conditions. Wait until the fall to plant them again.

Various Varieties of Daffodils

There are several different varieties of daffodils. Daffodil colors can range from the common to bright yellow, to white, white and orange and sometimes pale green. Here is a look at three of the most common varieties of daffodils.

• Golden Ducat- This beautiful and common daffodil is a double daffodil with pure yellow petals. These daffodils grow to 12” to 16” tall. Many people who live in a country setting plant and grow entire whole fields of these beautiful bright daffodils.
• Petit Four- Petit Fours do well in partially shaded areas. These daffodils have white pedals and a double cup of apricot pink. These daffodils stand about 16 inches tall.
• Rip Van Wrinkle- are double daffodils that grow 6” to 8” tall and have pale greenish/yellow petals that look ragged rather than having more of a bell shape.

Daffodils are quite hardy and look great both as part of an early spring garden and when picked in boutiques. However, it is best when creating a boutique to keep cut daffodils separate from other flowers as they release a sticky liquid that may shorten the life of other flowers in the boutique.

Daffodils are a great way to bring early color to your garden, before the soil heats up enough for those late spring and early summer flowers to bloom.