Daffodils and other spring bulbs should be planted in the fall before the ground freezes! Find all our tips on planting daffodil bulbs, caring for daffodils, and what to do after they flower.
Daffodils are a hardy and easy perennial that grows in most regions of North America, except in the hottest, wettest areas, such as South Florida. Daffodils are a fall-planted bulb, so plant them in autumn and they will bloom in late winter or early spring.
The traditional daffodil flower may be a showy yellow or white, with six petals and a trumpet-shape central corona, but many cultivated varieties ("cultivars") exist today. Leafless stems bear between 1 and 20 flowers; sometimes the flowers need to be staked so that they don't weigh down the stems.
Daffodils are suitable for planting between shrubs or in a border, or for forcing blooms indoors. They look wonderful in a woodland garden and in large groves. You'll find that many gardeners plant the bulbs not just by the dozens but by the hundreds! Daffodil flowers also make for great springtime cut flowers.
Planting
Here's some daffodil-themed prose to brighten your day:
Daffodowndilly
She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
"Winter is dead.”
–A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young
Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty.
–William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
–William Wordsworth, I Wander'd Lonely as a Cloud
Of Spring Weather:
Chillier, but daffodillier.
–The 1991 Old Farmer's Almanac
Scientific name: Diabrotica speciosa Germar Native range: South America At Risk The cucurbit beetle has a broad range of vegetable host crops. In Minnesota, corn, soybean and potatoes are the most common hosts that cucurbit beetle could impact. This insect also has potential to impact fresh-market vegetables due to its affinity for plants in the Cucurbitaceae family. Distribution The cucurbit beetle is not known to occur in North America. Biology Adult beetles are
Scientific name: Spodoptera littoralis Boisduval Native range: Africa, Southern Europe and the Middle East At Risk Egyptian cottonworm has a wide host range of more than 80 plant species from over 40 plant families including vegetables, fruits and ornamental crops. In Minnesota some of our main crops that could be affected include soybean, alfalfa, corn, apples, grapes, beets, and potatoes as well as some ornamental poplars and pines. Distribution Spodoptera littoral
Scientific name: Agrilus planipennis Native Range: East Asia At Risk Emerald ash borer (EAB) kills ash trees. All ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) are susceptible to EAB. Millions of ash trees have already been killed across the midwest, eastern United States, and Canada. Minnesota has the highest volume of ash trees in the U.S. with nearly a billion forestland and urban ash trees combined. The potential for economic and environmental impacts of losing these trees is signific
Scientific name: Amphimallon majalis Razoumowsky (Syn. Rhizotrogus majalis) Native range: Europe At Risk The European chafer is a very serious grub pest of turf and can cause more turf damage than the Japanese beetle. Part of this difference may occur because the European chafer spends a longer portion of the summer feeding on turf. However, adult European chafers do not eat at all and so are not the problem defoliators that Japanese beetles are. Home lawns, golf cours