Daffodils are a fun and rewarding flower to grow in the garden or for shows. They greet you in early spring, usually even before the tulips, with their bright colors cheerfully reaching to the sunny spring skies. They merrily announce that spring has arrived and are often a pleasant remedy for winter depression.
Those of us who are into growing, showing and hybridizing daffodils find a way to expand that "spring thing" into a year round interest. The big fun each year is the show season which starts in March in our south and west states, through early May in the northernmost states. The show period is concurrent with hybridizing and developing strategic crosses, followed about six to eight weeks later by seed collecting, and bulb digging.
As we roll into September a new world of "down under" daffodils shows are being reported by our "brothern" in New Zealand, and Australia whose climatic seasons are directly opposite ours. The falls are occupied here in the Northern hemisphere by bulb planting, and "potting" of bulbs for forcing.
The winter months are our slowest, however, that allows for validating our lists of planted cultivars, and plan for bulb purchases for the next year. As we know, the Daffodil bulb catalogs come out early from the specialty dealers, and those that order early get the best bulbs.
It doesn't matter if your interest is gardening, showing, or hybridizing, you are welcome here. We accept the casual gardener, the novice daffodil growers, the accomplished and the royalty of daffodils, the hybridizers. Our concept is, ask questions, or add your own experiences to the discussions and the fun has been joined.
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