The Daffodil Garden in June

I hear you . . . “When can I cut off this awful daffodil foliage? It’s flopping all over everything else!” The answer is still the same . . . “You have to wait until at least six weeks after they have bloomed.” Yes, I know they’re unsightly, but the action of the sunlight on the leaves is making the flowers for next spring. So the longer you can keep the leaves going, the better flowers you’ll have next year. Don’t tie the foliage up in nice neat little bundles, and don’t cut it off prematurely. If you can let it die off naturally, so much the better.

Of course there are ways you can camouflage the foliage. You can interplant perennials like hosta and daylilies. Foliage on these is now doing a good job of hiding the daffodil leaves. Some of the ornamental grasses do a good job also. Of course, perennials will get bigger each year, and your daffodils will increase, so the time will come when you’ll have to dig one or the other. Perennials have an advantage over annuals in colder climates, as they begin growth early in the season before you can put the annuals out, and will provide cover sooner. But annuals, like marigolds, make a wonderful show after the daffodils are gone. I like California poppies. I broadcast a pack of seed a couple years ago, and now I have them coming up every year. Some are just beginning to bloom. They’re mostly shades of yellow, but there are white ones and a deep reddish-orange one. The photos show the same location, once with daffodils, and then followed by the poppies.

If you want to dig your bulbs for whatever reason, dig while you can still see the foliage. That way hopefully you won’t cut into the bulbs when you dig. You can plant the bulbs back immediately, or dry them off and plant in the fall. If you have to dig right after flowering, plant them in their new location immediately and keep the leaves growing as long as possible. Treat them as you would any perennial you had just moved.

June is also a good time for going through the catalogs to place your order for bulbs to be delivered in the fall. If you’ve been to any shows or visited any gardens, you’ve probably made a “want list.” Now is the time to attach prices to those in your “want list” and then decide which will make it to your “order list.” The two lists will probably not be the same! You can find a list of daffodil bulb growers on The American Daffodil Society website, at http://www.daffodilusa.org Send for catalogs and get your orders in soon. My favorite American supplier is Mitsch Daffodils in Oregon. Not only do they list their own fine hybrids, but they also list the newer offerings from Jackson Daffodils in Australia—all turned around for growing in the Northern Hemisphere. Once your orders are all placed, you can dream about how beautiful your garden is going to be NEXT spring.

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