Grow your own MASTERPIECE
Everyone from Hockney to Dali has been inspired by daffodils, so follow the legendary artists and...
NO OTHER spring flower has inspired the arts like daffodils. They are immortalised in the textiles of William Morris, the paintings of Gustav Klimt and Salvador Dali, and a classical piece composed by Benjamin Britten.
In the world of literature, they are praised in poems by A.A. Milne, Emily Dickinson on and, of course, William Wordsworth. worth.
Last year, David avid Hockney got in on the act. Hunkering down wn in France durring lockdown, , the octogenarr ian artist created 116 paintings on n his iPad called The Arrival Of Spring, Norm andy, 2020. They incluuded an ant’s-eye ye view of a clump mp of daffodils set against a blue sky. ky.
It’s easy to understand why daffodils are an enduring source of inspiration. spiration. The cheerful flowers rs help lift spirits early in the e year, providing a splash of sunny colour when there’s very little around. nd. They symbolise rebirth and new ew beginnings, signalling that winter nter is finally over.
Now is the ideal al time to start work on your own masterpiece asterpiece by planting daffodil bulbs. bs. They’ll establish roots readily during autumn and a mass of leaves will appear above ground in winter. Depending on variety, the plants will put on a show-stopping floral performance between January and late May.
Given the botanical name narcissus, wild daffodils are indigenous largely to Spain, Portugal and Italy, with a few found in other parts of Europe. Among them is the Lent lily (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), a species native to Britain that inspired Wordsworth to write I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud, one of the most iconic poems in the English language.
Over the past 150 years, plantbreeding has generated thousands of varieties. Ranging in height from 4in to 60in, stems are topped with single or double flowers made up of a cup (technically a corona) and outer petals. Most flowers are yellow or white but some have red, orange or pink coronas.
As a result of their diversity, daffodils are among the most versatile and useful of all garden plants. There are varieties suitable for planting in beds and borders, d raising in containers, naturalising n in grass and for growing as cut flowers. Some are super-compact, making them perfect for f rock gardens.
Put varieties that grow to about 12in at the front of beds and borders. ‘Thalia’, ‘Jetfire’ ‘J and ‘Jenny’ are ideal, ide while ‘February Gold’ and ‘Rijnveld’s ‘R Early Sensation’ are invaluable inva for early colour.
All daffodils da make good cut flowers but I adore taller, scented ones set in the middle of displays or in dedicated cutting beds. Robust, shortish varieties with simple flowers make good subjects for naturalising in grass. Choose early-flowering ones as you won’t be able to mow the lawn until they have died back completely after flowering – a process that can take six weeks. ‘Barrett Browning’, ‘Jack Snipe’ and ‘Peeping Tom’ fit the bill.
Low-growing varieties such as ‘Tete-a-Tete’, ‘Pipit’ and ‘Hawera’ are great in pots, window boxes and baskets. Even more diminutive is Narcissus bulbocodium subsp obesus ‘Diamond Ring’, whose 4in-tall stems carry goldenyellow trumpets in late March.
Planting bulbs is easy. Dig holes with a trowel, making sure they are three times as deep as the bulb is high. Place the bulb with the pointed end up and twist the base gently into the ground. Crumble soil over the bulb until the hole is full. Space them 8in to 10in apart.
To naturalise bulbs in grass, avoid planting in a uniform manner. One way is to drop a handful of bulbs from waist height and plant them where they fall. Use a bulb-planting tool with a cylindrical blade to remove a core of soil. Pop in the bulb, cover with soil and replace the cap of grass.
Those strapped for space can raise daffodils in containers. Last year I half-filled a 12in-wide pot with compost, arranged ten bulbs on top and covered with a 4in layer of compost. You may wish to combine with other spring-flowering bulbs and plants.