You may think it’s a bit early to thinking about planting your spring bulbs while still enjoying your summer flowers, but if you buy your daffodils and get them in the ground now, they will have a great opportunity to make good, strong roots. If you’ve ever accidentally dug one up in August you will have noticed that the roots are already starting to grow.
If you don’t get around to planting them until early autumn, that’s still fine but the sooner they go in the ground, the better – just make sure that the earth is not too dry and hard.
There are many opportunities to buy them online, or if you prefer you can browse through the various catalogues that bulb merchants produce. It won’t cost you a fortune and it will make sure that your garden is filled with narcissi and daffodils from February through to May.
I favour the smaller narcissi as they look stunning in a smaller bed and their leaves, also being that much smaller, are not as intrusive when left to die down for the few weeks after flowering. The larger varieties of daffodils can get bowed down by rain and snow so that makes them more vulnerable to slugs and snails as the blooms are much easier to reach.
So go ahead and start browsing those paper catalogues or look online and remember that if you buy the larger, fatter bulbs you’ll get a much better display throughout the spring. Don’t be tempted to buy the mixed variety either, as your display won’t have such a dramatic display as will drifts of the same variety.
Daffodils represent the better value for money than other bulbs so make sure you make the most of what is available now.
