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    Daffodils in a small garden – tips on how to grow them.


    April 30th, 2020 - Pots and containers

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    If you have a small garden like a town garden and want to grow daffodils, here are my tips on how best to do it, learned over the years by trial and error. When we have no meadow, no mossy bank, no swathes, no fields, no seas of daffodils, how can we have a splash of yellow and deal with them when they’re over?

    Daffodils in a small garden

    Daffodils in a terracotta pot

    Perfect daffodils for an early splash of yellow in February.

    Firstly, recall that I look out the window at every inch of my front and back garden every day of the year. There are no hidden bits or out of the way corners. Everything is visible. So the questions is, what do I want to look out on?

    Daffodils in a small  garden

    daffodils in pots

    My view outside the back door

    I couldn’t live without daffodils and I wrote here about how I choose the short early ones because I want to see yellow in February as soon as possible after winter. You can of course have daffodils in April but I don’t buy those. By April the garden is a jungle of new growth and daffodils would be lost in it.

    This year I had them in pots at the back door for us to look at and in troughs out the front for passers by to enjoy.

    Daffodils in a small garden

    Daffodils in a small garden

    daffodils in a small garden

    Wonderful splash of yellow in February

    They flowered from early February to mid April and looked wonderful.

    BUT what to do when the flowers are over. If I want to leave the bulbs in to flower next year they would have to be left to die down naturally taking 2 months. Do I want to look at this picture below for 2 months while the leaves die down?

    Daffodil leaves after the flowers are over

    Daffodil leaves after the flowers are over

    No, I don’t. And I’d like the space for something else.

    But here below is a pot where the daffodils have very thin leaves and the other things in the pot will distract the eye till they die down so I can leave them in.

    daffodils in a container

    Daffodil leaves less obvious in a mixed pot

    Here below is a pot full of daffodils which are now over. I need the pot for other things.

    Daffodils in a terracotta pot

    spent daffodils don’t look great

    For a pot like this, I lift them out with a fork or just tug a little, easy because they are not deep. Here they are just after lifting.

    Lifted daffodil bulbs

    Daffodils lift out easily from their containers

    Daffodil leaves

    Some daffodil bulbs have thin delicate leaves

    I throw them in a pile in my sunniest corner.

    Bulbs dying down in the sun

    Daffodil leaves dying down in hot sun

    The leaves turn yellow as they age, soaking up the sun’s energy to feed the bulb for next year. When the leaves have disintegrated I’ll keep the bulbs dry in the shed and replant in September.

    Here below is how they look today. Fading away nicely.

    Dying daffodil leaves

    Leaves soaking up the sun to feed the bulb

    I can’t stress enough how uplifting it is to look out at a splash of little yellow daffodils in February when days are still short and Spring seems weeks away. Those early varieties are quite cheap to buy in bulk and say 50 in a couple of pots will do the trick. I hope you’ll make a plan to order some for planting in September – gardening being all about looking ahead.

    Suggested sources: bulbs.co.uk    blomsbulbs.com

     

     

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    15 comments on "Daffodils in a small garden – tips on how to grow them."

    1. Beverly says:
      30th April 2020 at 8:38 pm

      I am loving pot gardening Your pots are a lovely shape and size.

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        30th April 2020 at 11:04 pm

        Thanks Beverley, they’re not too big and not too small.

        Reply
    2. Clare Gleeson says:
      1st May 2020 at 1:17 am

      A great post. Would you mind if I shared your tips with our gardening club? We’re still planting daffodils here in New Zealand as the lock down has meant delivery delays, usually they’d all be in the ground by Easter.

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        1st May 2020 at 11:48 am

        Oh how wonderful! Do please share my tips and maybe also my previous blog about which varieties to choose if you want early ones, which for us came out in early February to see us through the dark days before the clocks changed at the end of March. Lucky you being in NZ and I hope your autumn and winter aren’t too harsh. I’m choosing from the catalogues right now for next year. Do keep in touch if you like, best wishes, Julie

        Reply
    3. Lisbeths Haveblog says:
      3rd May 2020 at 10:31 am

      Do you cover the bulbs with soil while fading or do the just lie naked in the sun?
      Lisbeth

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        5th May 2020 at 5:51 pm

        They lie naked in the sun in a pile and today the leaves are yellow and nearly ready to pull away from the bulb whereas those left in the borders are still green. Hope that helps, Julie

        Reply
    4. Lisbeths Haveblog says:
      6th May 2020 at 10:10 am

      Thank you. I will do the same now.

      Reply
    5. Marika Lindvall says:
      7th May 2020 at 8:54 am

      Such a good idea with the wonderful daffodils! I have to buy some new pots…

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        8th May 2020 at 12:34 pm

        That sounds good, pots are such a good investment aren’t they. I’ve had mine for 30 years or so. Hope you find something you really like. Thanks for your comment. Julie

        Reply
    6. Carol Cooper says:
      16th August 2020 at 9:27 am

      Please can you recommend some short early daffs to plant in pots that you have particularly enjoyed?

      Reply
      1. Julie Quinn says:
        16th August 2020 at 8:18 pm

        Yes, let me have a think about it and I’ll come back to you. Short early daffs are a great idea.

        Reply
      2. Julie Quinn says:
        20th August 2020 at 2:42 pm

        Carol looking in my garden notes I would recommend Jetfire, Tete a tete, Topolino, all dwarf and early and really lovely. Th bulbs are small like a grape and sos easy to push into pots with your finger. Hope you enjoy them, Julie

        Reply
    7. Emma says:
      23rd April 2021 at 6:40 am

      Aww this is just perfect, as I am
      Limited in space and only have pots I have been so worried on how
      Long to leave them in.. I shall
      Lift mine this weekend,.
      Would you think I can do the same with all spring bulbs? Muscai, tulips, crocus,. All ready to die back now?

      Reply
    8. Emma Lewis says:
      23rd April 2021 at 6:41 am

      Aww this is just perfect, as I am
      Limited in space and only have pots I have been so worried on how
      Long to leave them in.. I shall
      Lift mine this weekend,.
      Would you think I can do the same with all spring bulbs? Muscai, tulips, crocus,. All ready to die back now?

      Reply
    9. Julie Quinn says:
      10th May 2021 at 7:49 am

      Emma I would definitely take them out and just chuck them in a the sunniest corner you have to let the leaves die down if you want to use them again in September. I am guessing it would just take longer if they don’t get much sun but who wants to look at dying leaves in a pot for weeks on end? Not us! So glad my blog gave you a good idea, best wishes, Julie

      Reply

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