Daffodils for a Long Season of Bloom

In winter gardeners dream of daffodils. By late February or early March the dream becomes a reality, but all too soon it’s over. The only way to prolong the daffodil display is to plan your garden so it includes daffodils that bloom in the early, middle and late parts of the season.

Cyclamineus daffodils, with their backswept petals and slim trumpets are among the earliest bloomers. Look for the aptly named ‘February Gold’, which features sunny yellow flowers on twelve-inch stems. Little ‘Tete-a-Tete’ also has reflexed petals and golden blooms, but at six-inches tall it is a true miniature.

The heirloom trumpet daffodil ‘W.P. Milner’, introduced in 1861, is another early-blooming variety. At seven-inches tall, it is only slightly larger than ‘Little Gem’, whose golden trumpet contrasts with a lighter yellow perianth.

Many wonderful varieties fall into the early to mid-season category. ‘Dutch Master’ is the archetypal long-stemmed yellow trumpet daffodil. For something different, try large-cupped #8216;Ice Follies’, with its white perianth and creamy yellow cup that whitens with age. ‘Barrett Browning', a small-cupped variety named for the Victorian poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, has a yellow-ringed orange cup and white petals.

Some cyclamineus daffodils also fall into this category, including the bi-colored, eight-inch ‘Jack Snipe’ and the twelve-inch ‘Jetfire’. The latter features a slim orange trumpet and backswept golden petals.

Mid season daffodils include the tall, white-flowered trumpet, Mt. Hood, a classic from 1938. Mt. Hood is accompanied by some of the cluster-flowered tazetta types like ‘Geranium’, with its white petals and red-orange cup, and ‘Minnow’, a miniature with yellow cups and ivory petals.

Some of the most exciting daffodils are mid to late season bloomers. These include split-corona and butterfly types like the well-known ‘Palmares’, with its salmon-colored crown and white perianth. ‘Calgary’ is a fragrant mid to late season double variety with lots of clean white petals. The triandrus variety ‘Thalia’, is a fragrant heirloom with small white flowers and slightly reflexed petals.

The daffodil season goes out on a heroic note with ‘Sir Winston Churchill’--tall and fragrant with white and orange double flowers, borne in great profusion. Other late-season doubles include ‘Cheerfulness’ and 'Yellow Cheerfulness’. Both are sweet-scented with a multitude of petals. The former has white and yellow petals; the latter’s blossoms are entirely soft yellow. ‘Salome’ is as flamboyant as the name suggests with a perianth of white petals surrounding a coral-colored trumpet with a golden edge. The miniature jonquilla daffodil 'Sun Disc’ ends the season as it started with small golden flowers on short stems.

Plant daffodils in sunny spots in clumps of three five or nine, and choose an assortment of early, mid and late varieties. Cultivating a wide array of these long-lived plants will ensure that the jump from winter into spring will always be long and pleasant.