Hoop-petticoat daffodils
Hoop-petticoat daffodils are sure to set your heart aflutter, writes JENNIFER STACKHOUSE
When I was a kid, I invested my birthday money in bulbs. I’d pore over mail-order ads in Mum’s gardening magazines, then send off an order. Included in my first order were yellow hoop-petticoat daffodils – selected on the basis of the name!
The hoop-petticoat daffodil (Narcissus bulbocodium) gets its common name from the shape of its flower. The trumpet is bell-shaped, like a voluminous crinoline skirt, with small, narrow, flared petals. Each flower has prominent stamens.
The bulbs form leafy clumps about 15cm high, but only a few centimetres across, with almost tubular leaves. Each bulb produces plenty of flower stems once it has settled, and bulbs multiply to form a clump.
As well as the common yellow-flowered hoop petticoat, there are other species with hoop-petticoat flowers. N. cantabricus is an autumn- to winter-flowering species with white flowers, while N. romieuxii has creamy lemon flowers in winter. Both have been used to breed attractive and desirable forms of hoop petticoats. The Ta-Julia Group is a cross of these two species, while ‘Spoirot’ is a cross between N. bulbocodium and N. cantabricus and has creamy yellow flowers. Further breeding has produced lemon-yellow flowers with large trumpets, tiny petals and narrow green leaves.
growing tips
The common hoop-petticoat daffodil is native to France, Portugal and Spain, so it also does well across most of southern Australia. Planted from late summer to early autumn – with each little bulb planted about 6cm deep – it produces flowers in winter to early spring.
Grow these daffodils in clumps at the edge of paths or garden beds where there’s sun and good drainage. When growing in pots, specialists recommend sitting the bulbs on a layer of sharp sand, then topping with good-quality, free-draining potting mix. Feed with a little potash fertiliser in spring.
The plants die down in summer, when they don’t need watering. This long, hot, dry spell is the key to prolific flowering. Janelle Noble, a miniature-daffodil grower in Tasmania, says the easiest way to keep bulbs dry from late spring to summer is to grow them in pots. She recommends tipping the pot over on its side to keep the bulbs dry. Resume watering in March.
Each bulb produces only one or two flowers in its first year, but in subsequent years you can look forward to the flowers being more profuse.