Omg yes--the narcissus bulb fly is a nasty culprit and wrecks havoc for me--I used to blame all kinds of things for poor repeat performance in my daffs until I found out (recently) that the larvae of this fly were wrecking my bulbs.
Here's what mine look like:


Typical treatment is to repeatedly spray bug poison around the basal leaves and soil so the larva makes contact with it en route to the bulb and gets sick and dies before it would pupate and emerge as the fly the next year. I've not found an effective chemical to kill only them and not my bee and other friends.
Some folks dig up all their bulbs and hot treat to kill the larvae, replant in fall.
I read something a while back that the 'best' and most effective thing to do --if you have them-- is to kill the females before they can lay eggs. I've learned to recognize the sound they make and last year began practicing my skills at finding and killing them. It's easy enough to squash the writhing pair when they are breeding next to the daffs on the ground...but when they're flying around it's more challenging. They make a very loud high-pitched buzz and they tend to fly straight up when startled so this year I am going to be more earnest about it with a net, but I'm just not home enough...
People also use barriers like Remay to cover the daff foliage so the females can't get to the bulb base. I haven't tried that, but I read they will sleep on the Remay so they are supposedly easy to find and kill in the morning.

Thank you Shannon. It sounds like you're going to find all kinds of surprises at your new home. I love finding the plant surprises!

Dirt, that's all very interesting. I'm like you in that I don't want to poison my other insect friends. I will look for this fly & listen. Thanks for describing the way they sound and the flying straight up when startled.

Hmmmmmmmm...... I have found pure, undiluted alcohol to kill insects. I use it for my "bug spray" since I discovered how great it is. Even kills roaches. I keep a spray bottle filled with it. You could tote the spray bottle around with you out in the garden - set the spray to a broad pattern & when you see them, even flying, zap them good with the alcohol. I've used it on plants even & it hasn't harmed a plant yet. I used it on some Phal orchids including the open blooms & it didn't hurt them one bit.

Ann, I think Dirt covered nearly all the tricks I know of regarding fighting this very difficult pest. Don't want to use poison myself either and even if I wanted, very few chemicals are allowed for the home gardener around here. Some claim that deeper planting (10 inches) will make it more difficult for the larva to reach the base of the bulb so could be worth trying. Growing early varieties, removing the foliage (they like the scent of the decaying foliage) and firming the soil around the base of the bulb could also be worth trying.

I don't grow many daffodils anymore... just a few survivors and I have some in pots. I try to cover most of the pots after bloom, but not all of them. I keep a few pots uncovered, placing them where it's nice, warm and a little sheltered... conditions which the narcissus bulb fly seem to like. My thinking is that by keeping at least a few narcissus bulbs easily available, perhaps I can get them to lay the majority of their eggs in these pots and then I can discard all infected bulbs later on Apparently they can damage other bulbs as well, but I'm unsure to what extent and indeed I have read some differing stories regarding what species are at risk! In the UK they for instance have a lot of problems with snowdrops, but I haven't noticed that myself... however that certainly doesn't mean the problem isn't there .

This really is a very difficult pest to initially spot, unless one knows what to look for and judging by the responses in this thread, I wonder if it isn't much more common than what I have been led to believe. I think I both saw these flying around in the garden as well as actually snapping pictures of them several years before I understood what they were

Great information William. Thank you. I will be on the lookout for this problem.

Weird thing happening here. My Haycinth Fondant that started blooming way to early in late January has dead bloom stalks. Today I noticed the bulbs are putting up a second new bloom stalk, along with the older one that I haven't deadheaded yet

It's a weird year for sure.

Yesterday I finally got some spring bulb blooms outside ...

crocus



I. reticulata

Nice blooms j! Which Iris is that, the color is so vibrant!

I actually don't remember, it's been out there by the alley probably 15 years plus.
It may have originally been acquired just as I. recticulata.

Maybe Rhapsody?

I might love this crocus too much

is that possible?


Nah...can't bee loved too much!

They're beautiful dirt!

Very delightful.

Hellebore Golden Sunrise Strain



Ipheon Wisely Blue forced indoors on a windowsill



Pine Knot Farm select red strain



Steve

Way to go Steve. I've read the star flower could be forced. Unfortunately my single attempt at it failed.

We have a parking strip where we planted a bunch of bulbs-dafodils, narcissus, sparaxis and such. That was a few years back.
We don't water it much in the summer, if at all. The daffodils and narcissus still grow but don't bloom much. The sparaxis on the other hand have gone nuts and seeded the whole thing. Every year there are more and more.

It's a bit of an experiment in natural hybridizing. All of the colors of sparaxis show up. Orange is dominant, but we get some others that are very nice-pinks, whites and a few reds.

With the early rains we had, under all the blooming plants is what looks at first glance to be grass. It's really this years seedlings. See the bottom left corner of the third photo.

Those are stunning photos! I wish those grew here.

@coboro I love the look of these! How tall do they grow? Fragrance? These are going on the list to order for fall, reseeding is a bonus.

Zone envy here too!

Carl, those are glorious! Feeling the zone envy here too, I've tried sparaxis but about the time they start blooming weather turns hot and they melt