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Refrigeration of and Traveling with Daffodils

© Clay Higgins

You can travel successfully with daffodils, including refrigerated daffodils. This year we traveled with daffodils to Atlanta, GA., Dallas, TX., Portland, OR., Morristown, NJ., Wadsworth, OH, and Cincinnati, OH., with varying results.

In the early season while it was still cold, we had no problems in transporting daffodils, regardless if they were wet packed or dry packed. However, after the Portland National Convention, it was a little warmer, and the sun got to the daffodils early and took a little "Starch" out of them. At Morristown, NJ, we had flowers that had been picked only two days before that died on us before the judging could begin. At Washington Daffodil Society I had flowers that were picked the night before, in warm sunny weather, die on me by judging time.

In desperation, I called on the magic of the internet and the ADS Daffnet for help, and got some good advise from respected, knowledgeable showers that worked, on how to hold those flowers in show condition.

We learned that when you refrigerate daffodils, use a clean refrigerator scrubbed with bleach, use sterile water to mist the daffodils, and use clear, clean, and fresh tap water for the daffodils. If you don't do those things the daffodils will be a serious collection of black mold making the flowers look like something rescued from the trash dump.

We also learned that it is critical to start with fresh flowers, trim the stems at an angle, and completed hardening before they went into the refrigerator. The refrigerator must be cold, with best being just a couple of degrees above freezing. Next we learned to mist the daffodils daily, and keep a wet towel in the bottom of the refrigerator to maintain the humidity. We also learned that you have to change the water every-other-day and re-cut the stems by about a quarter-inch each time you put them in fresh water. The daffodils will stay fresh for about a week to ten days. The proof of the pudding, so to speak, is our successes in Wadsworth, and Cincinnati, Ohio, with refrigerated flowers. The test was that we had to travel one day, overstay the night with daffodils, and place them in the show hall the next day. We were told that our flowers lasted very well through the second day of the show.

Of course there are two other secrets to traveling with daffodils. First, wear your winter coats, ear muffs and gloves in the car and turn the air conditioning on high. Second, bring lots of spares, because something will die on you, totally unexpected, but you generally will know which one is getting ready to die before the judging begins. Just have a spare to replace it.