Height: 38-50cm Spread: 7.5-13 cm.
These harbingers of spring look delightful outdoors when grown in profusion. They can also be made to flower indoors in winter and early spring.
While many daffodil varieties can be grown in pots, the trumpet-flowered types, with their large bright flowers, are the most popular. Two excellent yellow-trumpet varieties are ‘Dutch Master’ and ‘Golden Harvest’. For bicoloured flowers, choose ‘Trousseau’; its blue-green foliage offsets the white and rosy-cream blooms. ‘Queen of Bicolors’ (pure white and chrome yellow) and ‘Foresight’ (white and lemon) are also recommended.
White-flowered types include ‘Mount Hood’ and ‘Empress of Ireland’. For double-flowered varieties, try ‘Texas’ (cream-gold and tangerine) and ‘Irene Copeland’ (creamy-white).
If you prefer small flowers in bunched heads, then try the tazetta narcissus. Derived from Narcissus tazetta, it is closely associated with the poetaz narcissus which is a cross between N. tazetla and N.poeticus, the poet’s narcissus. The two widely available tazetta varieties are ‘Paper White’ (white) and ‘Soleil d’Or’ (rich yellow petals, with an orange cup). Poetaz varieties include ‘Cragford’ (white and orange), ‘Geranium’ (white and rich orange) and ‘Lauren’s Koster’ (white and lemon-yellow).
The cyclamineus narcissus grows 20-30 cm high, bearing tiny pendent flowers with long trumpets and petals that sweep backward. Recommended varieties include ‘February Gold’ (deep yellow), ‘Peeping Tom’ (bright yellow), and ‘Tetc-a-Tete’ (yellow).
Light and temperature: Bright light; winter temperatures of 7-10 C (45-50 F) after shoots appear, rising to 13 C (55°F) when flower buds are visible.
Watering and feeding: Keep moist. Feeding is not necessary.
Compost and potting: In late summer, pot up 5 or 7 bulbs in bulb fibre or John Innes potting compost in a bowl 15— 20 cm wide and 7.5—10 cm deep. Leave tops exposed. Water and keep cool (5°C40 F) and dark until leaf tips appear.
Propagation: Fresh bulbs each year.
WARNING: Do not leave bulbs in airtight bags; they will rot.
Failure to flower, with buds turning brown, results from the growing medium having been too dry during the plant’s ‘cool period’ when the roots were developing. Double varieties are especially susceptible to this.
Yellow leaves result from the bulbs being placed in a draught, or not receiving sufficient light.
Daffodils look best when several bulbs are planted in one container. They are not so effective grown singly in small pots. -
Long, limp leaves develop because the bulbs were left for too long in the dark.
Stunted growth results from the bulbs having spent too short a period in a cool, dark place. Do not move the bulbs to a bright, warm position until the shoots are 2.5-5 cm high.
A layer of clean gravel on the surface of the compost not only enhances the display, it reduces evaporation from the surface.
Narcissus ‘Dutch Master
PESTS AND DISEASES
Stem and bulb eelworms Narcissus fly maggots Slugs