Dazzling Daffodils Toss The Bulbs In Your Yard And Plant Them Where They Land For A Natural And Wild Look

I ‘ve been exercising my throwing arm. I’ve been tossing daffodil bulbs - yes, folks, throwing them around like a deranged pitcher. My only excuse is that this is good gardening.

I think I should explain.

Some people like to line up daffodils in tidy little rows. But I feel that the only attractive way to use them is to make them look natural - the way daffodils would grow in the wild.

The way to do this is to toss out the bulbs by the handful and plant them where they fall. If that sounds too goofy to be true, trust me: This works.

My daffodil tossing has been inspired by a beautiful new book, “Daffodils for American Gardens” by Brent and Becky Heath (Elliot & Clark, $24.95). He is a third-generation commercial narcissus grower, owner of the Daffodil Mart in Gloucester, Va., who knows his narcissus.

Heath says the way to achieve the natural look with hybrid daffodils is to “imagine how an original group of bulbs might have spread at your site,” then do the same thing.

Truly naturalized daffodils are those original narcissus that grow wild in Europe and the southeast United States. But hybrid daffodils, Heath says, “are the kinds of daffodils most of us use in our ‘naturalized’ plantings. Hybrids will form large clumps of plants that can appear to be naturalized, but they will not spread to distant locations.”

With enough sunlight, water and nutrients, daffodils planted this way continue to expand in size and bloom year after year.

The trick to making this work, Health says, is to look at the planting site from different angles, taking into consideration the layout of trees and shrubs. The planting should follow the contours of the land. Think of the daffodils appearing at the sunny edge of a patch of woods.

Re-creating that edge-of-woods feeling is how they will look the most natural in the yard. Mark off the area with sticks, flags or garden hose encircling the site to guide your planting, Heath says. Then simply set the bulbs within that area.

What kind of daffodils work best? The most economical ones for naturalizing are mixed bulbs sold by the bag at local nurseries and garden centers. A bag of 25 bulbs costs $3 or $4. Because of the low price, they lend themselves to massive plantings.

Heath recommends using all one kind of a strong perennial daffodil - King Alfred, for instance - so they will all bloom at once with startling color. “The mixes,” he says, “weaken the effect of the planting. The bulbs bloom at different times so there is always a lot of foliage but not a full-flowered look. If there is too much space between each blooming flower, sometimes a fresh flower will be coming into bloom right beside one that is dying.”

I, for one, like the long blooming time that comes with a daffodil mix. A few withered daffodils among the new bloomers looks perfectly natural to me.

In the wild, you can find blocks of different species of daffodils that meet and mix by feathering or fingering into one another. “You can achieve that feathering effect with patches of (all one kind) perennial daffodils and get a lovely natural look with a lot of color,” Heath says.

To put all this to work in your yard, here are some ideas:

Shop for the bargains. There is no need to buy the expensive large daffodil bulbs, which can cost as much as $1 each. The packaged daffodil bulbs are small, but they work fine.

Decide whether you want the bulbs to bloom all at once or over an extended period, and buy accordingly. Flowers last about three weeks, but rainy weather will shorten the bloom time.

Plant daffodils through October, when soil temperatures drop below 60 degrees.

Daffodils can’t stand “wet feet” and will rot in poorly drained soil.

Plant the bulb, pointy end up, at a depth of 4 to 6 inches. There should be about 1-1/2 to 2 inches of soil above the top of the bulb.

For the best naturalizing effect, toss out the bulbs in handfuls and plant them where they land. Although Heath, in his book, is skeptical of this technique, it works as long as the bulbs aren’t scattered too far apart. Six inches apart is about right.

Fertilize lightly with any fertilizer in early spring when the green growth first appears and in fall after the foliage dies.

If the daffodils are planted in the lawn, use care when mowing the lawn, to avoid slicing the green growth in spring.

After bloom, let the leaves turn brown. This takes about two months, but don’t cut off the tops because this is when the bulbs store energy for next year’s flowers. If the dead tops are annoying, secure them loosely with a rubber band, and bend them over so they aren’t as noticeable.

Companion plantings of other bulbs, annuals, vegetables or ground covers can add color and life to the daffodil plantings. Leafy lettuce, parsley, hyacinths, wildflowers and pansies are good companions.