Ordering daffodils from "downunder," and turning them around can be an interesting experience. Like to give it a try?!!
Explanation: Daffodils grown downunder, or on the Southern Hemisphere is in a direct opposite climate and seasons as those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Our winter is there summer, our spring is their fall, our summer their winter, and our fall their spring. We dig our bulbs in late June or July and plant in late September or October. Down under, they dig their bulbs in late December and January, and plant in May or June.
So why's that important? Bulbs from "downunder" have to be ordered in December and January, and are usually received in the Northern Hemisphere in April or May, or at the end of our daffodil blooming season. So, what do we do with the newly received bulbs.
How to Do It!. There's a number of ways to do it; plant when you receive them and wait until next year for the first bloom, hold the bulbs until fall and plant, and the other method is refrigeration.
The key to it all is that daffodils need about 13 weeks of cool weather or combination of cool weather and refrigeration to bloom.
Plant Bulbs When Received
One theory, and the one most used is to plant daffodils when you receive them from New Zealand or Australia. This will be in the spring during the months of April or May. The earlier you plant them the better, so they can get acclimated to your soil and growing conditions while it is still cool, and before the summer heat sets in. For spring planting, the bulbs should be planted as you would other daffodil bulbs, and allowed to go dry in the summer. The bulbs will not put up foliage until after they go through the winter cold. In the following spring they will bloom normally, but do not expect them to be at full potential that first year.
This is a reliable method, and it's only danger is if the daffodils suffer from basal rot, and die. However, this is the risk of any bulb in the soil, not just those imported bulbs. Unless the soil has a high rate of basal rot, this is not usually a major concern.
Hold the bulbs until fall to plant.
The bulbs can also be stored in a dry cool area until fall and planted. However, this is taking a chance that the bulbs will be out of the ground for a long time. Hopefully, not for too long. At an American Daffodil Society Regional meeting, a speaker on this subject said that she successfully keeps the bulbs to the fall and plants them with her other bulbs. I have not tried this method because it seems too long to keep the bulbs in storage.
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