The love of daffodils’ fleeting bloom

Sun., May 7, 2006

Mary Beth Breckenridge Knight Ridder Newspapers

Daffodils

Growing Tips

Daffodils are easy to grow, but the right conditions improve your chances for bountiful blooms. Here are some growing tips from the American Daffodil Society and the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center:

•Plant in the fall, preferably late September or early October in our area. While it's possible to plant later, this will allow enough time for the roots to become established before the ground freezes.

•Plant the bulbs 5 to 8 inches deep in well-drained soil that's been worked until it's loose. Clay soil can be improved by adding organic matter such as compost.

•The pointed end of the bulb should go up, but don't fret if you plant your bulbs wrong. The daffodil will find its way out of the soil.

•Daffodils need at least a half-day of sun to bloom, but you can plant them underneath some deciduous trees, because the flowers come out before the leaves on the trees. The flowers will do better beneath trees with tap roots than those with shallow roots, which will compete for water and nutrients.

•Water immediately after planting, and make sure the bulbs get plenty of water through the fall.

•Don't use fertilizer that's high in nitrogen. It encourages the growth of foliage instead of flowers and can cause the bulbs to decompose. The Fuhrmeyers give their daffodils a little bulb food in the fall and some potash after they bloom, but you may never need to fertilize at all. Some gardeners add bone meal when they plant their bulbs, but that can attract moles and voles.

•After the flowers finish blooming in spring, leave the foliage alone while it's still green. The leaves are needed to rebuild the bulbs through photosynthesis. If you want to cut the leaves off, wait until they start turning yellow.

•Every three years or so, divide daffodil plants to reduce crowding and keep the flowers blooming. To do it, dig up the plant after the foliage has yellowed and gently separate the clumps of bulbs. You can replant the individual bulbs immediately, about six inches apart, but don't water them till fall. Or you can dry the bulbs in the shade and store them in mesh bags to replant in the fall.

When the daffodils are in bloom, they’re Joy Fuhrmeyer’s favorite flower.

Of course, when the irises open, her allegiance tends to switch. And when the hostas come up, she has another change of heart.

But for now, she’s loving the daffodils.

And there are a lot to love. She and her husband, Doug, have thousands of the hardy spring flowers growing on about an acre of their 8 1/2 -acre Ohio property. Beds in front and behind their house are awash in a display of yellow and white, with dashes of pink, peach and orange contributed by the daffodils’ familiar corona, or center cup.

The Fuhrmeyers started gardening about only 10 years ago, after they were awestruck by the variety of irises they saw at a show at Cleveland Botanical Garden. “And our children grew up,” Joy Fuhrmeyer is quick to add.

Before long they were growing 225 types of irises — the number has since grown to about 350 — and were traveling all over the United States to iris conventions, her husband recalled.

Then a fellow member of the North East Ohio Iris Society introduced them to daffodils. A new obsession was born.

Today the couple grow more than 400 named cultivars, or cultivated hybrids, of daffodils, and Doug Fuhrmeyer is president of the Northeast Ohio Daffodil Society.

Clusters of daffodils line the meandering walk in front of their house, populate a large plot on the other side of the driveway and fill a series of raised beds in the backyard. The best of the bunch were destined for the daffodil society’s annual Daffodil Show, held last month.

Most of the daffodils the Fuhrmeyers grow are unusual varieties that can’t be found in Northeast Ohio. They bought bulbs in England and Northern Ireland during a tour celebrating the British Daffodil Society’s 100th anniversary in 1998 and purchased some from a New Zealander who had lugged them there in his suitcase. They even paid $105 once for a single bulb of a Clouded Yellow daffodil, noted for its puckered trumpet and cloudy yellow color — a purchase Doug Fuhrmeyer can only explain as happening “when I was crazy.”

All daffodils are members of the genus Narcissus, within which are at least 50 species and more than 13,000 hybrids, according to the American Daffodil Society. At least some types of the flower grow everywhere in the United States except parts of Florida, which don’t get the cold temperatures daffodils need to form flower buds.

They’ll last for years and grow almost anywhere as long as they get enough sun, which makes them a great choice for beginning gardeners. Although some critters will dig up the bulbs, animals such as deer and squirrels won’t eat daffodils because the bulbs and leaves contain crystals that are poisonous to them.

Even the Fuhrmeyers, accomplished gardeners whose passions also include irises, lilies, hostas and dahlias, love the fact that daffodils are so fuss-free. “You just don’t worry about them,” Joy Fuhrmeyer said.

You simply enjoy them while they last, because they’re fleeting — just like spring.

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