A long time ago, which was 1973, or 75, or so, I bought a bag of King Alfred daffodils. There were 25 of them. They were properly spaced apart and planted across the end of my driveway. Nobody eats daffodils, they are disease free and they multiply like rabbits. What to do? What to do with over 25 years worth of daffs? The give aways help but not enough.
Just a few years ago I started a daffodil row directly in front of my day lily bed which runs across the front of my property. It is roughly 90 feet long. It is a great place to park any and all daffs which need relocation. The daffs are beginning to multiply now and the row is starting to take shape.
In the pic, that is the day lily bed behind the daffs which still has plenty of room for more day lilies. Also, there is an iris bed to the rear behind the day lily bed. You can see a few of the plant markers.
So, this is what is happening in my yard now. It's fun!
-- Edited by ruffles on Thursday 8th of April 2010 06:23:22 PM
Your yard provides you with so much joy that we can hear it in every post about your flowers.
King Alfred daffodils are amazing, and just keep multiplying and multiplying. In 1967, for the Canadian centennial, King Alfreds were planted all down the grass median between the lanes for about 50 miles of the freeway into Vancouver. There have been improvements made to the medians over the years, but each spring there are stilll areas of beautiful cheery yellow blooms.
Oh, how beautiful... and I'm sure they are even more lovely in person. How I wish I could grow some of the things you do, but I'm not willing to trade the warm weather for the cold that allows them.
In spite of wintering them in the refrigerator, the daffodils didn't bloom for me. I had hoped they would but there must be other conditions down here that they don't like besides the need for cold. They didn't come up this year :( But we tried :)
My amaryllis in the front are budded and ready to bloom in the next few days and I have one of my grandmother's Crinum lilies in bud just days away from blooming too. Nothing for either in the back yard yet. How are yours doing?
Having a highway median filled with daffodils would be a real ray of sunshine in a busy commute. Town and highway department officials have different priorities however. I gave some irises (Jewel Tone) to our town once. They were planted but it wasn't very long before they were paved over.
Light...It would have been fun if my diffodils could grow for you but Mother Nature does have her rules. You certainly did give this a whole hearted try.
On the other side: I still have the Crinums growing in pots. They take a long winter's rest in the cellar. I'm not sure they'll ever get up enough size to bloom but plan to transfer them into larger pots this year.
Also, I never brought the Amaryillis upstairs this year. Usually I do that at some point after Christmas. So, this year it will be brought up and set outside when all danger of frost is past. If it blooms, I'll be thrilled because it will mean I've found a way to have blooming Amaryillis outside in my yard. We'll see how it goes.
