Garden Notes

King Alfred and Ice Follies daffodils blooming happily in spring garden

This has been a crazy weather year in Wisconsin. We had a mild winter and a very early spring. So early in fact that the daffodils are already blooming in the middle of March. This is at least a month early for our part of the country. I keep waiting for winter to come back and wreck havoc, but secretly I hoping that it really is spring!

Actually I have a love/hate relationship with daffodils. I love how they look, but hate how many of the daffodil bulbs I plant look great the first year and sometimes the second year, then slowly dwindle and disappear. I fertilize them in the spring with bulb food and let the greens die back before removing them, but still many bulbs die off. Actually the only daffodils that have done well and increased in my yard are King Alfred and Ice Follies. So, this year, I am trying to figure out what I should do differently.

I did some research and found a lot of useful information from the American Daffodil Society. They have quite a list of reasons for daffodils not doing well.

Why Are The Daffodils Not Blooming?

1. Bulbs need to be fed at planting time and each spring when leaves emerge and again at bloom. (I have been fertilizing only when the leaves emerge so I will need to do one more feeding.)
2. Do not use a high-nitrogen fertilizer. This encourages leaves, but many times plants do not bloom. (I use the correct fertilizer.)
3. Do not plant bulbs in very shady areas. Daffodils need at least a half-day of sun to produce flowers. (Our yard is shady in many areas, so I am not sure what to do about this.)
4. Bulbs compete for food with other plants. Do not plant under evergreen trees or with other fast-growing plants because it limits the food they can get. The result can be weak plants and no flowers. (I think this is definitely a problem in my garden. I have things planted pretty close together.)
5. Bulbs need good drainage. Daffodils love water but they do not like wet feet. They can be weakened by “basal rot” fungus and die out. (I do have some wetter areas in the garden.)
6. Plant leaves were cut too soon or tied off the previous year. The leaves should not be cut off until they start to lose their green and turn yellow. This signifies the completion of the bulb rebuilding process. (I do this correctly.)
7. Bulbs may be stressed from transplanting. Some varieties seem to skip a year of blooming if dug and replanted in a different environment. They bloom the first year with the freshly planted bulb, but then are unable to replenish the bulb sufficiently to bloom the following year. (This may be part of my trouble.)
8. Some naturalized varieties growing well in one region do not grow well in regions with different climate. (So why don’t the plant nurseries explain which daffodils thrive in our area?)
9. The bulbs may have a virus. (Many plant viruses attack daffodils. Over time, an infected plant loses its vigor, puts up smaller, weakened leaves and stems, stops blooming and finally dies. Daffodil virus is incurable and contagious to other daffodils. Dig up any infected bulbs and throw them away. (I don’t think this has been a problem in my yard, but who knows?)
10. Growing conditions the previous Spring may have been inhospitable – the replenishing of the bulb was affected. An early heat wave may have shut down bulb production before it was complete. (Heat may be a problem this year in Milwaukee!)
11. Bulbs may be crowded. (Daffodil bulbs normally divide every year or two and result in clumps of bulbs that compete for food and space. Dig the bulbs when the foliage has yellowed, separate and replant them about 6″ apart and about 6″ deep. You can either replant immediately after lifting, or else dry your bulbs in the shade, store them in mesh bags until fall, and then replant. If you chose to replant immediately – don’t water them in. (I have never separated our daffodils so this could be part of the problem as well.)
12. Their last reason and my favorite. The bulbs may not like you! This is the case when you finally give away your non-blooming daffodil bulbs in frustration and they bloom beautifully for your friend. (This one explains a lot!)