Daffodils come in an infinite variety of sizes, shapes and shades and can flower in some form from before Christmas (in mild areas like Cornwall) right up until May.
Daffodils, Narcissus, Jonquils - all come from the family Amaryllidaceae (you can see why other more tongue tripping names are commonly used!). They all share common features: growing from bulbs, strap-like leaves, leafless stems carrying single or multiple flowers, and the flowers all have 6 outer petals and a central cup or trumpet corona.
Colours vary from white through creams and yellows, to deep orange and even pink, and some have petals and coronas of differing colours. They look spectacular as a single variety massed together, or as a mixture nodding in the breeze. You can get miniature versions, long trumpets, short trumpets, double ones, scented ones, frilly ones, and ones with flipped back outer petals.
In fact the RHS has a Daffodil Register and Classified List that documents 27,000 daffodils of garden origin, and this list was compiled in 2007 and has been added to every year since!
So there MUST be a Daffodil to suit every taste. Daffodils should be planted early autumn and once they have flowered should be deadheaded so that the bulbs can recharge for next year and the plant doesn't get diverted into seed production. Don't cut the leaves down though, even if they flop over, and definitely don't tie them in a knot like my old neighbour did! Let the leaves to die back in their own time, which they will do once the bulb becomes dormant.
Our favourite place for spring bulbs and particularly daffodils is Fentongollan Farm, just outside Truro, so put a visit in your diary for September and make a note of what you like the look of now so you can be focussed and decisive when you're shopping (we live in hope of this working!)
Visit Fentongollan Farm to see 250 varieties of bulb cultivated on their farm in Cornwall, and if you can't get there they do mail order too!
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