Growing Daffodils

How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Daffodils

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The bright yellow blooms of daffodils are a wonderful sign of spring—but do you know how and when to plant them properly? Here are tips on planting daffodil bulbs, caring for daffodils, and what to do after they flower.

Daffodils are a hardy and easy perennial that grows in most regions of North America, except in the hottest, wettest areas, such as South Florida. Daffodils are a fall-planted bulb, so plant them in autumn and they will bloom in late winter or early spring.

The traditional daffodil flower may be a showy yellow or white, with six petals and a trumpet-shape central corona, but many cultivated varieties (“cultivars”) exist today. Leafless stems bear between 1 and 20 flowers; sometimes the flowers need to be staked so that they don’t weigh down the stems.

Daffodils are suitable for planting between shrubs or in a border, or for forcing blooms indoors. They look wonderful in a woodland garden and in large groves. You’ll find that many gardeners plant the bulbs not just by the dozens but by the hundreds! Daffodil flowers also make for great springtime cut flowers.

Planting

When to Plant Daffodils

Plant daffodil bulbs in the fall—about 2 to 4 weeks before the ground freezes. See local frost dates and get more tips on planting fall bulbs.

Choosing and Preparing a Planting Site

Select a site that offers full sun or partial sun, at the least. Daffodils will bloom best when given adequate exposure to early spring sunshine!
Most daffodils tolerate a range of soils but grow best in moderately fertile, well-drained soil that is kept moist during the growing season. They are susceptible to rot when kept too wet, so make sure that you plant them in a well-draining spot.
Many of the popular species prefer neutral to acidic soils, but some prefer slightly alkaline soils, so consult the supplier of your bulbs to see which is best for your daffodil variety.
Over time, daffodils will produce new, “daughter” bulbs that are attached to the main bulb which you planted originally. This results in nice little clumps of daffodils that stay relatively contained to where you planted them.

How to Plant Daffodils

Select high-quality daffodil bulbs that have not been dried out. The larger the bulb, the better.
Plant with the top or pointy end up about 2 to 3 times as as deep as the bulb is high. For example, the top of a 2″ bulb is at least 4″ deep (measuring from the bottom of the bulb) while a 3-inch long bulb should be planted 5 inches deep.
Daffodils will tolerate some crowding, but they prefer to be spaced about 3 to 6 inches apart.
It may help to sprinkle a little bulb fertilizer in the hole during planting. Learn more about preparing soil for planting.
Where winters are severe, make sure there are at least 3 inches of soil covering the bulb.
Resist the temptation to uncover spring-flowering plants such as daffodils and tulips. You can loosen mulch, but the shoots will still benefit from protection against cold, drying winds in early spring.
Daffodils contain something called oxalic acid—a substance that makes them unpalatable to most rodent pests. However, if yours are being bothered, consider adding sharp sharp pieces of shells or a pelleted rodent deterrent into and around each planting hole.
Get more tips for growing bulbs.

Daffodils in spring

Care

How to Grow Daffodils

Apply a low-nitrogen, high-potash (potassium) fertilizer after flowering if bulbs are not performing as desired. Learn more about preparing soil for planting and soil amendments.
Water late-flowering daffodils in dry spring weather (flowers may abort in dry conditions).
Deadhead plants as flowers fade (for neater garden appearance) and allow leaves to remain for at least 6 weeks.
Lift and divide the clumps when flowering becomes sparse or the clumps congested.
After daffodils bloom in the spring, allow the plants to grow until they die off. Do NOT cut down earlier. They need time after blooming to store energy in the bulbs for next year’s bloom.
To remove the dead plants, either snip them off at the base, or twist the leaves while pulling lightly.
Once daffodils and tulips have gone by, add bonemeal to the soil for next year’s blooms.

Pests/Diseases

Daffodils are both deer-resistant and rodent-proof, as these animals do not like the taste of the bulbs in the Narcissus family.
Daffodils can also be toxic to pets, so make sure your animals don’t munch on them.
The most common problems include large narcissus bulb fly, bulb scale mite, narcissus nematode, slugs, narcissus basal rot and other fungal infections, and viruses.

Daffodils in car

Harvest/Storage

Using Daffodils as Cut Flowers

When cut, daffodils should be kept alone in a vase, as their stems secrete a fluid that promotes the wilting of other flowers. If you must combine them, soak them by themselves for as long as possible, then rinse them and add them to the arrangement last. Learn more about keeping cut flowers fresh.
Note that contact with the sap of daffodils may irritate skin or aggravate skin allergies.

Recommended Varieties

‘Golden Ducat’ is a double daffodil with pure yellow petals. It blooms in mid- to late season and grows 12 to 16 inches tall.
‘Petit Four’ is a good choice for a partially shady site. The flower has white petals with a double cup of apricot pink and grows 16 inches tall.
‘Rip van Winkle’ is a miniature double daffodil that grows 6 to 8 inches tall and looks great in a grove with many others of its kind.

Daffodils with white and orange.

Wit & Wisdom

Daffodils are a March birth flower.
Daffodils symbolize regard for someone. See more flower meanings.

Here’s some daffodil-themed prose to brighten your day:

Daffodowndilly
She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
“Winter is dead.”
–A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young

Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty.
–William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
–William Wordsworth, I Wander’d Lonely as a Cloud

Of Spring Weather:
Chillier, but daffodillier.
–The 1991 Old Farmer’s Almanac

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Reader Comments

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Watering daffodils

Just planted a bunch of bulbs in California. How often should I water them before spring?

Watering Dormant Daffodils

If your area gets regular rainfall, you likely won’t need to water them at all. Otherwise, you’ll just want to avoid letting the ground around the bulbs dry out completely for long periods of time. Water them every so often, enough to keep the soil soft and somewhat moist.

October - newly planted bulbs already coming up

Hello,

I live in zone 9A and approximately one week ago I planted about 100 bulbs. I have great dreams of what it will look like next spring, but to my great alarm everything is sprouting already! After one week!
Now what?

Any advice or suggestions appreciated. Part of the problem is they are planted directly with my brussels sprouts and broccoli, they will run into one another.

Thanks!

daffs in zone 9A

You’re in such a warm zone and planted so early, the bulbs hit “go” (grow!). Had you waited until what approximates a chill sets in, the bulbs may have waited. You can cover them with a light mulch, and keep covering them as they pop up.

Presumably you planned to pull the b-sprouts and brocc stalks once they finish? You might not, as this may upset/uproot the daffs too. Instead, cut the stalks at ground level and leave until spring.

Daffodils

I recommend planting the daffodils in pots or at the edge of a garden (vegetable or flower), so they will be easily retrievable in the late spring of 2021. They can be planted crowded in pots; you just need them to produce leaves and keep the bulb alive. If not planted, the bulb will dry out over the year,

Planting daffodils

I'm going to be moving next year, and this spring I noted which clumps of daffodils I want to take with me, and when they died down I dug them up. My new garden won't be ready until the fall of 2021, so do I need to find somewhere to plant the bulbs this fall, or can I leave them out of the ground until next winter? I'd really appreciate knowing what to do as I realize this isn't a normal situation.

storing bulbs

Next fall is a long way off, so it would be ideal to plant them. But if you can not, put the bulbs in a cool, dry place until fall and plant them then. Do not water them in storage.

Daffodils, removing and replanting

I have Daffodils that I planted more than 25 years ago. They are crowded and I wish to move them. When do I dig them up? How do I store them? When do I replant them? I live in Maryland near Washington,DC.

Lift, separate, and store for fall planting

Wait until after the plant has died back completely, then dig the bulbs being careful not to cut them with the shovel. You can divide the clumps so you will have even more daffodils next year. You can store them for awhile in a cool place until ready to plant in late summer or fall.

Flowers being chewed off

I have found several blooms form daffodils on the ground near the plant. These are the actual flowers that have bloomed not flower buds. They look as though they have been neatly clipped from the stem but the actual flowers are not eaten and are just left on the ground. We do have lots of chipmunks, red and grey squirrels where we live but this has never occurred before and these daffodils have been in for years. Interestingly, it is only the solid yellow ones with which this occurs. Any ideas as to cause? Suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Daffodils nipped

Normally, rodents, bunnies, deer, etc., will avoid daffodils, as the flowers can be toxic. It may be that one animal didn’t know that until biting into a few. According to some sources, deer usually leave a ragged cut when chewing plants. Rabbits can leave a clean cut, usually at a bit of an angle. Groundhogs may also leave a clean cut. Some birds, such as crows, have been known to clip off flowers in general and just leave them on the ground. Look around for signs of fur, feathers, tracks, etc., in case they might give you a clue as to the culprit!

daffodils not blooming

Many of my daffodils are not flowering but their leaves are coming up. I thought this was a sign to separate them. When I dug them up there were many small baby bulbs which separated and will replant. Is not flowering a sign that they need to be separated? If not, what is the problem?

daffs don't bloom

Unfortunately, there is no one problem—or at least no single one we can identify. Daffodils fail to bloom when or if they . . .

• do not get at least a half day of sunlight

• are in an area with poor drainage

• have been fed with a high-nitrogen fertilizer OR have not been fertilized in years (a 5-10-10 mix when planted, when leaves emerge, and at bloom is recommended)

• experienced a heat wave last spring

• have a virus, e.g., yellow stripe (such lines appear in the foliage)

• foliage was removed last season before bulbs could replenish the bulbs; leaving the foliage for six weeks is advised

Those are most of the common reasons. Perhaps one is yours?

Daffodils

I’ve had a lot of what I call blind daffs what’s the best thing to do with them. I usually leave them in the ground. If I dig them up how would one know which is the blind ones. Thank you

Blind Daffodils

Unfortunately, without observing which have bloomed and which haven’t (and labeling them accordingly), it’s not possible to tell them apart. The ones that have bloomed should keep their flowers for a little while after blooming, so keep an eye on them and mark which are which before digging!

what to do with daffodils that no longer bloom

We have an abundance of daffodils that are quite lovely. I notice that the bloom, especially as it starts to fade, has somewhat of a bulge under the petals. Can these be planted, and therefore, will I realize more flowers next spring? I live on San Juan Island, WA.

Daffodil Seeds

Those are likely the daffodil seed pods. While it’s possible to plant them, they typically take several years to grow into a proper plant and produce blooms. Generally, they’re not worth the trouble of planting, unless you don’t mind waiting!

daffodil bulbs pulled out before flowering

Its mid-April and my daffodils were all accidentally pulled out and leaves stripped. If I replant now will they come back this spring? Or should
I replant now and just wait till next year?

daffodil dilemma

Daffodil bulbs have roots like most plants so something so disruptive as pulling them out has done them in, certainly for this year. In their best form, daffs use their foliage to help to produce the energy for the next season’s blooms after each season’s flower period. So yours have been compromised. Hard to tell how they will fare going forward but it’s worth the time/trouble to replant them and see what happens next year. To be on the safe side, that is, to have flowers next spring, you might want to buy new bulbs in the fall and plant them then, as usual. Most people think you/we can’t have too many daffodils!

Received potted daffodils as a gift

I received a beautiful pot of daffodils as an Easter gift. Can I plant these outside (in Wisconsin) while they’re flowering? Or should I keep them in the post until they die off, then just plant the bulbs in fall?

Easter daffs

You are correct: Leave them in the pot, with foliage, until the foliage wilts and droops, then trim it off. Put the bulbs, in the pot or not, in a cool, dry place until fall and plant them then. Do not water them in storage. If you take them from the pot now, they will wilt/collapse practically in your hand…never to rise again, at least this season.

Am I too late

have totally forgotten about my daff bulbs from last year, unfortunately they have started to grow in their storage bag and have yellow/white shoots from the bulbs, am I able to plant these as they are? should I do anything with them? should they go in the bin and I just get some more?
Thank you

dig up the daffodil to split up as the clump is to big and no f

Too big a clump and no flowers

daffodils growinf in Florida

I have a bag of daffodil bulbs, I now live in Ft Lauderdale Fl. Will they grow here if I plant them?

Daffodils in South FL

Daffodils require a period of cooler weather to go into dormancy, so it’s unlikely they’ll do well outdoors in south Florida. You could try chilling them in the fridge for a couple months before planting in a container in late fall or early winter—they may be tricked into blooming then.

I made a mistake with my daffodils

I am new to gardening and didn’t realize that I should not have cut the foliage after the flowers bloomed. I cut the down to about an inch from the ground. Any chance they will return next year it should I plant new bulbs. Also does the same apply to amaryllis as they have very long leaves and I was thinking of doing the same after they finished blooming. Thanks

Daffodils

The plants will come back next year; their blooms just might not be as enthusiastic. Leave the ones you’ve got alone, but feel free to plant a few more for additional support!

Amaryllis leaves should also be left alone until they die back naturally. This is the case for most (if not all) bulbs!

Moving bulbs

The daffodils planted by the previous owner of our house seem to be in odd places in the yard with little thought given to light. What advice do you have about digging them up and replanting in the fall?

moving bulbs

Daffodils

How do store the bulbs till autumn? We dug up after they bloomed. We want to move to a better spot.