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How should you plant daffodils?
Daffodils enjoy well drained soil with slopes and raised beds
being preferred. Add well-rotted compost or similar soil conditioning
to heavier soils to improve drainage. Slightly acidic soil is
best. Bulbs can be planted using the usual guideline of the top
of the bulb being twice the height of the bulb below the surface
but they are fairly adaptable. Bulbs in sandy soil can be planted
slightly deeper than those in heavy soils. Daffodils generally
have the best visual appeal when planted in clumps rather than
in rows, the larger the clump the better the effect. When planted
in pots, daffodils need not be planted as deep as those in the
ground but should be covered.
By selecting different varieties you can achieve a longer display
as some varieties (eg Jonquil Paperwhite) flower in late Winter/early
Spring, others such as yellow trumpet a bit later and others are
quite a few weeks later (eg many doubles such as Sir Winston Churchill).
Choosing several with different flowering times in clumps near
each other, or planting mixed daffodils will extend the enjoyment
of their display (this explains why some novice gardeners think
their mix isn't very mixed when the bulbs first start flowering!!).
Do you have to lift the
bulbs every year?
 It
is not necessary to lift daffodils every year, probably every
three years is enough. The best guide is that if a clump is not
flowering very well, that is if flowers are becoming fewer and
fewer, this means that the clump has become too crowded. You should
definitely lift and divide them, splitting these bulbs up so they
get a new lease of life.
How do you store bulbs?
When you lift daffodil bulbs put them into an open
mesh bag like an onion or orange bag and hang in a cool airy spot
in the garage or garden shed. Keep them there until March which
is the time to plant them in the garden. Refrigeration of daffodils
is not necessary for normal flowering.
 Is
it really necessary to wait until the leaves have died down before
you lift the bulbs?
If you understand the way a bulb works you will realise the importance
of allowing the leaves to wither before you do anything with the
bulbs. After a bulb has put out its flowers it will have shrunk
to a tiny size, so if it is to flower next season it will need
to be replenished with food in the form of starch. This is the
purpose of the leaves, making food to build up the bulb to a decent
flowering size. If you cut or mow down the leaves too early the
bulb will not have grown enough. Although tying the leaves together
makes them tidier while they die down, this reduces the amount
of light they receive and can reduce their effectiveness in feeding
the bulb.
Regularly removing the spent flower heads is beneficial to next
year's flowering as the daffodil does not put energy into seed
production. Six to eight weeks after flowering has finished you
can certainly cut off the withering leaves.
What about feeding bulbs?
 To
build up a healthy bulb for flowering next season it is a good
idea to spread around a well balanced fertiliser. Use a complete
fertiliser, not one that contains only nitrogen as this will lead
to all leaf growth. A balanced fertiliser with a ratio of NPK
6:6:6 or an azalea or camellia food will be fine. The best time
to feed is just as the flowering is finishing and well before
the leaves begin dying off. It is particularly important to feed
daffodils planted in pots regularly after flowering to ensure
healthy bulb for the following year.
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