Easy-Care Gardening

One of the reasons that I grow daffodils is that I am an easy-care gardener. To me, easy-care means that I don't have time for constant putting in new flowers and digging out old, except for a few annuals I buy at the store and consider disposable. To be easy-care, it means that I put plants or bulbs in the ground, and they die or survive, and if they survive, I want them to come back year after year as easy-keepers.

Of course, easy-keepers is a term that is applied to range cattle and horses back on the farm where I grew it. It means all one has to do is turn them out to pasture and they will take care of themselves. The more "hot-blooded" the animal, the more care, attention, special feeding, facilities, doctor bills, TLC, etc., that it needs. The same applies to my plants, as the most time I have for my expanded gardens is about an hour a night when I come home from work.

So I don't have time to constantly fuss with plants, so easy-keepers, the ones that survive by themselves, are the plantings in my garden. That means the bulbs, peonies, daylilies and etc., along with shrubs and flowering bushes in my garden must survive on their own. If they have no "staying power" without much care from me, there time on this planet is short.

Back to daffodils, and the reason that they are easy-care garden bulbs. Traditionally, daffodil bulbs are planted and after they get started they survive quite well, thank you, without the human touch. Planted in the fall, they provide early spring color and cheer, die back by early summer and are out of the way until next spring. Every 4 or 5 years when they become crowded, dig them, thin them out, replant, and the cycle starts again.

Best of all, you can use the daffodil beds to over-plant with annuals, including vegetable garden plants, and some shallow rooted ground covers. Usually the daffodil bulbs are not disturbed by over-planting as they are four to six inches deep. However, deep rooted ground covers can both compete with the daffodil for nutrients, and may even choke out the non-aggressive daffodil. Consider hiding the daffodils with layered, and intermingled plantings, instead of overplanting them. I find a layer of daylillies between my deck and in front of the daffodils hide them very well from view, but the daffodils are still able to absorb sunlight and make new bulbs for next year.

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