Daffodils
Ruffled, salmon colored and doubles are among my favorites. Every fall I buy several boxes of four or five fancy daffodil bulbs at Kroger for approximately $3.50 along with a few bags containing 40 to 50 trumpets.
In the depths of winter I often look at pictures of daffodils, looking forward to their triumphant return the following spring.
Daffodils are the easiest and most reliable of all flowers to grow and are ideal for beginning gardeners.
My only complaint is their short growing season. However, I have already transplanted bulbs from my brother's to a narrow strip of land between our two lanes, and am planning my purchases for this fall. My friend Barb also gave me discards from her yard.
It is important that you not cut the leaves until after the leaves have wilted and turned yellow. The daffodil plant needs the green foliage to rebuild its bulb for the next year.
Wilted flowers and stems from bouquets are thrown on the compost pile where they rapidly decay.
All gardeners love to share the fruits of their labor. The last few years I took bouquets to work and also dropped them off to my daughter's apartment.
This bouquet went to my daughter-in-law. Two others were delvered to a friend at work who dubbed me The Daffodil Fairy. Vases purchased at Goodwill or yard sales allow me to continue my economic ways without worrying about getting them back.
At this moment I have five vases filled with many different varities bringing beauty and their delicate scent to my bedroom. Unfortunately, daffodil season is almost over for 2013.
These bulbs were part of a large clump of daffodils which did not bloom this spring since they had been growing in the same spot for many years (competing for food and space) and needed dividing. I dug them up, separated them and transplanted them to an open area where they will flourish for years.
I have never gone to the effort of drying the bulbs, storing them, then replanting in the fall.
This split corona is a new addition to my garden. I found this particular variety locally only once, in fall of 2011.
I look forward to a long, happy relationship.
There are many reasons to include daffodils in your garden. They are easy to grow, hardy, long lived, and widely available at nurseries, grocery and hardware stores, as well as through mail order and online, . Colors range from white to yellow, pink, salmon and orange. I love the clean scent of bouquets on my bedside table.
Unlike tulips, daffodils are not eaten by deer and rodents, but certain rascally raccoons have been known to dig up the bulbs and toss them around. The bulbs and leaves of daffodils are poisonous.
My first daffodils of the year, otherwise known as Beer Bottle Chic.
I rescued the bottles from the fairground. The local recycling bin does not accept blue glass.
