Daffodils - My favourite five
A selection of daffodils
Daffodils or narcissus are one of my favourite flowers, they are in my top five couldn’t live without. To me they are the ultimate spring bloom, easy to plant, seem to be unphased by whatever weather an Irish winter throws at them, and bloom regardless of hail, rain or snow. And they are perennial and multiply. Not to mention the absolute array of colours and shapes they come in, some scented, and they can bloom from February to April depending on the variety. Now is the time to plant them so I thought I’d share some of my favourites! I grow thousands of daffodils and always trial a few new ones each year. It is one of the joys of spring to watch them bloom and discover new varieties.
Some of the creamy yellow, butter shades
5. Bridal Crown
Grow for the scent alone! I look forward to filling a jam jar of these every spring and I end up bringing it from room to room because it smells that good. Add in the frills and multiple blooms. Sir Winston Churchill is very similar also if you can’t find bulbs for this one. It is an early to mid variety and can measure about 12inches but stretches up as the weeks go on, so the first few might be short and the last few tall.
Bridal Crown
4. Dick Wilden
Dick Wilden
My favourite yellow, it’s a double and it’s one of the earliest daffodils to flower here. And it is scented, a sweet smell reaches you before you reach the patch of flowers. The only downside is I find that sometimes the stalks bend from the weight of the heads, possibly from the weight of rain or frost. It’s also tall, from 12 to 18 inches/ 30 to 45cm.
Dick Wilden
3. Ice King
My patch of Ice King varies in ruffles and colours! They start of more yellowy in the middle and fade to white. The first or second to flower here alongside Dick Walden. A tall variety to 18in/45cm. They are at their end of their life in the photo below but still beautiful.
Ice King Narcissus
2. Replete
A very beautiful ruffled variety. I don’t need to describe in too much detail as it truly speaks for itself! Its a double, blooms earlier in one side of my garden than the other. A tall one, usually around 40cm.
Replete
Apricot whirl
This is one of those that you can’t quite believe its real! That it can be hit by frost in the morning and hailstones in the afternoon and still look magnificent. I find it a little on the short side but can be forgiven as it is a real garden favourite too, it still looks great weeks after it first opens. It is a split corona variety and is early to flower. Height up to 12 inches
Apricot Whirl Narcissus
Top five was in no particular order! And all the varieties mentioned should be not be reasonably priced and not too hard to find. There is plenty of time to still order and plant for this year. Next year I will be selling bulbs again but for now I’d suggest looking locally in garden centres or online at J Parkers based in Dundalk, and Dutch Organic Bulbs who is based in Ireland. And there’s a host to choose from in the Netherlands such as Farmer Gracy or Bulbi.
Happy planting,
Maria
