With the warm winter that we had, some of the narcissus were flowering way before Christmas, which seemed very strange. A cold spell in February put them back on track and once again N. St. Patrick’s Day was late again, not opening it’s flowers until April 1st!
Narcissus pseudonarcissus.
The experts say that this is the daffodil that Wordsworth saw in the thousands, “fluttering and dancing in the breeze”. I don’t have that many, but they make a nice show in the woodland.
The first Narcissus to flower was way back at the beginning of December, N. Rijnveld’s Early Sensation.
N. Tete a Tete flowering earlier than usual in Jan/Feb, they are now finished.
I like the swept back petals of this one, but unfortunately, I’ve forgotten it’s name.
A closer look at its perfect trumpet.
Narcissus pseudonarcissus seeding around in the woodland, these have all put themselves in the bark chipping path!
Another whose name has been lost in the mists of time. This one is in the border by the front drive.
N. Thalia.
I like it when we lose the bright yellow of Tete a Tete and white Thalia takes over. We have rather a lot of Thalia around the garden.
April 1st saw N. St. Patrick’s Day flowering instead of March 17th!
More St. Patrick’s Day over by the fritillaries.
Narcissus Geranium is now adding more colour to the back border.
Little N. Jack Snipe is kept to the right hand end of the woodland.
Another without a name in the rhododendron bed.
I think this one is Mount Hood, but it has somehow ended up in the ditch away from its brothers, I wonder who or what moved it!
Last autumn, I felt that the border at the side by the field needed brightening up at this time of year, so planted some narcissus. I know I made a note of their names, but can I find them anywhere…!
Up by the pond is Narcissus Pipit, with the most wonderful perfume, a little stunner!
And yet another whose name eludes me. Most narcissus were planted soon after moving here and that was 20 odd years ago, long before I started the blog and needed to remember their names!
I’ll finish with a general view of the woodland with N. Jack Snipe looking as though it is a drift through the middle but really is 3 clumps with St. Patrick’s Day to the left at the back.
We have had so much wind lately, the daffodils haven’t just been “fluttering and dancing in the breeze”, they’ve been thrashed and tossed madly in the gales! The smaller ones can take it though, whereas the taller varieties would have been flattened by now. I don’t think anything says “Springtime” quite like a host of daffodils, I hope you agree.
What a lovely selection of daffs you have Ali. I love the little ones too. N. Pseudonarcissus seeds around amazingly quickly.
Like you I have many daffs with unknown names. I think your second unknown one, the little white one looks like Jenny.
Pauline here Chloris, glad you like the selection of daffs! N pseudonarcissus is a favourite, just the right colour and seeding around so well. Thanks for suggesting Jenny, it could be, the name sounds familiar.
So many fine daffodils, Pauline. Mine behaved and sticked to their schedule unlike Magnolia Leonard Messel which started to flower at christmas and is still flowering! Narcissus Geranium is one of my favourites and I’ve planted lots more, so reliable and the scent…to die for, almost that is.
Fancy having a Magnolia in flower since Christmas Annette, that is amazing! I’ll have to get down and sniff my N. Geranium, I haven’t noticed a perfume so far….
I am hopeless at identifying different varieties of these but in my opinion they are all lovely, and I’m with you on a whole bunch of daffodils saying it’s Spring.
We’ve a few different ones in our garden, but there are some that my husband refers to as “Fried Egg Daffs”!
There are so many narcissus Val, planted along the roadsides in all our villages here in Devon, and they all look so pretty at this time of year. I’m not too keen on some of the very brightly coloured daffs or the double ones either, but most of the others float my boat!
Hi Pauline. No doubt Wordsworth would be charmed by your Narcissus.
I hope so Susie, they certainly lift my spirits and make it look as though the sun is shining even on a dull day!
You have a very fine collection of daffodils Pauline. Here the bulbs are not so advanced so no daffodils yet!
Thanks Denise. You will be able to enjoy yours when mine are all finished. Today the sun is so warm, so I think the daffodils won’t last much longer.
One of my favorite flowers, so cheerful at this time of year. You have a very nice collection!
They are cheerful, aren’t they Peter, you can’t be miserable when you see them! There always seems to be room to plant more each year, no matter how many are already in the ground, I’m making notes of all the spaces!
Hi Pauline,
You have a wonderful assortment of Daffs! I didn’t realize there was such a selection. The 3rd and 4th pictures are my favorites……Fritillaries and Daffodils….a great combination.
I like the combination of daffs and fritts too Sally,the pale yellow goes so well with the purple. I try to stick to the same varieties of Narcissus now, making the drifts larger as that is what I’m aiming for, larger drifts of everything!
A host of daffodils is certainly a welcome sight of spring! I love the way yours appear as drifts in the woodland and the way they combine with your other woodland flowers. Truly a sight to make my heart beat a little faster. I also love your fritillaries!
Thank you for your lovely comments Deb! I think springtime is the start of all the wonderful things to come in the next months, it’s the time when everything starts growing and shows such promise, a lovely time of year.
Some lovely fluttering and dancing going on there Pauline. I’m pleased that I planted some more ‘Tété-à-Téte’, probably later than I should have done last autumn, as the well established ones have gone over already. These new additions have only just opened.
Tete a Tete bring such welcome colour after a dull, dreary winter Anna, no wonder we are all pleased to see them! How nice that you have your new ones to enjoy now that your older ones have finished. Maybe we should all stagger the planting of our bulbs to make the display last longer!
A wonderful variety of daffs. I really like the N. geranium. Also the ones that are mixed yellow and white. The ones where the petals are recurved moderately I like, but for some reason not so much the ones that are recurved all the way back.
Thanks Jason, N. Geranium has a nice perfume too! I know what you mean when you talk about the ones with recurved petals, some of them look as though they are battling through a gale!
Oh, so lovely to see so many cheerful daffs – their names hardly matter, they trumpet the arrival of spring so colourfully when fresh colour on the ground is most needed.
Yes Kate, even though I’ve been enjoying all the snowdrops for a few months, it is wonderful to see the daffodils in all their glory! They definitely say spring to me whereas I feel snowdrops are winter flowers.
Your large swaths of daffodils are wonderful! I think that’s how they look their best, announcing spring en masse!
They do look good in drifts, don’t they Anna, I agree so much! To start with I was planting lots of different varieties, but now plant lots of the same varieties and think that they look so much better. Spring has certainly arrived.
What a nice selection and they look best when scattered about in a natural way such as you have. I wish I could do my own that way but the larger blooms and bolder colors don’t look as nice in my opinion. I guess until my tastes mature I’ll have to keep them confined to the vegetable beds!
I love the way the narcissus take over from the snowdrops Frank, a wave of yellow taking over from all the white. I have to admit I prefer the paler colours, but in February when everywhere is so brown or grey, the bright yellow little daffs seem to say Springtime to me!