The ancient Greeks named this flower narcissus, from their word for narcotic because of its intoxicating fragrance. It was this scent that lured Persephone into the underworld.
The flower known to Egyptians, Greeks and Romans was a very fragrant, cluster-bloomer with each bulb producing several stems. Narcissus flowers are familiar to us as paperwhites, sold for indoor forcing around the December holidays. Hardy members of this group happily live in the garden.
"Last spring I drove by the house where we lived over twenty years ago," Master Gardener Ann Bartlett reminisces. "Four or five years before we moved, I planted a mixture of daffodils in a front bed. They had multiplied over the decades and looked spectacular. We planted a similar mixture in our backyard last fall, and they delighted us with a long season of beautiful flowers."
Today the most popular daffodils are the large-cupped ones. They come in an amazing array of color combinations. Besides the classic all-yellow and solid white, some have two-tone cups as well as cups of orange or pink. The outer part of the flower, the perianth, may be yellow or white, providing a striking contrast to the cups. The flowers are large enough to put on a great show.
Daffodils with double cups have been around since 1620 when one appeared in a fortunate fellow’s garden. The camellia-like flowers may be large or small. Some smaller daffodils have multiple flowers on a stem.
“Sir Winston Churchill, another of my fragrant favorites, is an example," Bartlett notes. "I expected butterfly daffodils to be fragile, but they are big, beautiful, long-lasting flowers that are eye candy for me."
A few daffodils have flat cups called eyes. Sinopel, a fragrant daffodil, has a green eye with a white perianth. Smaller daffodils are very useful as edgers or in rock gardens. Some look as if they are in a windstorm, with the petals of the collar swept back from the cup. Blooming very early, in mid-February, they multiply quickly.
"I have found the little jonquils Pipit and Intrigue to naturalize quickly as well," Bartlett says.
Daffodils begin blooming in late February and continue until April. There are early, mid- and late-season bloomers. By planting a variety of cultivars, one can have flowers from late winter until tulip time. Many companies sell collections of bulbs to achieve this goal. The collections often have a theme, such as fragrance or a color scheme.
All daffodils require good drainage. They do well under deciduous trees but do need sun while growing. After the foliage dies back, the bulbs are dormant until the following spring. When planting them, make the hole depth three times the height of the bulb.
Narcissus, daffodil and jonquil are all names for the same spring flowers. They may seem a bit pricey; however, they are long-lived, they multiply and they are critter-proof—a terrific garden investment.
Hamilton County Master Gardeners are here to provide you with the latest university research-based gardening information. Whether it’s plant or pest ID, sick plants or general gardening advice, they are here to help.
To reach them, send an email to mghchotline@gmail.com. If you can’t email, call 423-855-6113 and leave your name, phone number, best time to reach you and a description of your gardening question. If you need help diagnosing a problem, include a few details:
- Damage you see and when it started.
- Parts of the plant affected (for example flower, leaf, stem or fruit).
- How much water the plant gets.
- Plant location (for example in a garden bed or in the lawn, next to a driveway or house, in full or part sun).
- (For emails) Photos of the plant or section of your yard in question. Photos of the area and the entire plant, including closeups, are helpful.
You can also visit them on Facebook at Master Gardeners of Hamilton County-TN.