Garden Tales: The Daffodil

A favourite flower, I really do not have one, my taste in plants covers a very wide range from asters to zinnias but there is one flower that gives me the most pleasure to grow and that is the daffodil.

Daffodils are easy to plant as long as you remember pointed side up and plant them deep enough in a spot where they get what they need.

They are ideal for a naturalized lawn such as the one with have between the house and the driveway. The crocuses are the first to merge with their purple and yellow flowers standing out against the brown grass or the white snow.

The daffodils come into bloom with another favourite but for different reasons the tulip right behind them.

The daffodil makes a great cutflower and will last for approximately a week, maybe a bit more indoors.

While there are many varieties available today, my choice is the traditional yellow; there is something so happy about that yellow that it can brighten even a grey day.

However, the daffodils cheerfulness is not why this beauty brings me pleasure to grow; the real reason is that it is my wife’s favourite flower and her birth flower. I grow them for her so that during the season she can have one on her desk at work and a small bouquet indoors.

This year we were able to plant these fall bulbs for the first time in three years as we had been moving and did not have access to a balcony for container plants or a yard.

Daffodils and other bulbs can be readily grown in containers and look great on your front steps adding to your home’s curb appeal or on a back deck.

I will plant more bulbs daffodils especially this fall but also tulips and maybe hyacinths. Daffodils do well in crowds and a planting of 20 or more can really brighten a yard in the early days of the gardening season.

As I said earlier the daffodil is not a difficult plant to grow or look after and will come back for years if it is planted where it gets what it needs. So indulge yourself and add a few or more to your garden, the bulbs are not expensive and they will reward your efforts over and over again.

I get great pleasure from growing things and there are plants I insist on growing or recommending others grow, sunflowers and marigolds, however, the daffodil has a special spot in our garden.