The Main Plant entry for Daffodils (Narcissus)

Most daffodils are easy to force over winter. Deep pots are best allowing room for root development. Need good drainage. 5 typical sized bulbs do well in a 6" pot. Bulbs may be placed in close proximity to each other but preferably not touching. Press firmly into the medium, more medium used to cover 'shoulders' of bulbs. This too should be firmed in.
Grower can force two ways...1) pots may be placed outdoors, plunged into the earth and covered with a protective layer of insulation (light soil, leached ash, straw, or pine needles) Protective layer must be a substance through which emerging buds (shoots) may grow through unobstructed. Maintain watering (but not too much). Usually 12 weeks is sufficient outside. When brought inside, essential to initially keep them cool. Water more freguently never allowing them to become dry. The higher the humidity the better.
To use in following seasons, flowering stems are removed, weak tomato (high potash) fertilizer may be applied, keep in bright light till warm enough to translocate, then plant bulbs outside. Often bloom following season; sometimes need a season to recover.
2) May be potted up as described above in the fall. Let roots get a good start by watering pot and letting it sit for a week or so before placing into a dedicated refrigerator with temperature maintained around 34 to 40°.Check to water periodically. 12 weeks later (obvious growth noted, pots well rooted) may be removed. I let mine acclimate under fluorescent lights in the basement where winter temps average around 60° for a week or so, When buds about to burst, moved upstairs for display. To enjoy in subsequent seasons, as described above, transplant into garden.
Before having a refrigerator dedicated to forcing I was able to successfully force by utilizing a covered outside stairwell to basement. Bulbs were potted up, placed in big totes and then totes were placed in stairwell and covered with blankets. This method's advantage was less watering (humidity maintained by enclosure).

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Daffodils are the perfect spring flower. I am so ready for their cheerful blooms after a long winter. Flowers are mostly shades of yellow or white, with some having a darker orange coloring. But the best known are the solid yellow daffodils.

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"Narcissus is a genus of mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbous perennials in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Various common names including daffodil, narcissus, and jonquil are used to describe all or some of the genus. They are native to meadows and woods in Europe, North Africa and West Asia, with a center of distribution in the Western Mediterranean. The number of distinct species varies widely depending on how they are classified, with the disparity due to similarity between species and hybridization between species. The number of defined species ranges from 26 to more than 60, depending on the authority. Species and hybrids are widely used in gardens and landscapes.

One of the most common dermatitis problems for florists, "daffodil itch" involves dryness, fissures, scaling, and erythema in the hands, often accompanied by subungual hyperkeratosis (thickening of the skin beneath the nails). It is blamed on exposure to calcium oxalate in the sap. It has long been recognised that some cultivars provoke dermatitis more readily than others. The cultivars 'Actaea', 'Camparelle', 'Gloriosa', 'Grande Monarque', 'Ornatus', 'Princeps' and 'Scilly White' are known to do so."

Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N...

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