Daffodil February Gold
After planting bulbs of the Daffodil February Gold last Autumn, I thought I was being rather optimistic in expecting them to live up to their title.
I have in the past seen some of the early varieties of Daffs blooming in late February here in Aberdeen, if planted in a sheltered sunny spot.
However, these ones which I planted in pots last Autumn were placed in our patio area,which, from the month of November until the end of February is completely void of sunshine.
February gold not only had to put up with full shade, but also had to show their strength in getting through a Winter which was to last right through until the twelfth of April.
The result is, here on the 13th of April, we finally have this delightful Narcissus giving us a marvelous show, looking out from the dining room on to the patio. It was not until the eighth of April that February Gold opened up its first bloom. Actually, I did speed up the opening of the blooms by placing the tubs in a sunny spot for three days, yes we did have three days in a row when the sun shone off and on, still flippin freezing though.
The preferred position for this Narcissus/Daffodil is of course full sun/partial shade. I think its always worth stretching the barriers at times, although in this case I would recommend a sunny spot.
The bright yellow blooms of February Gold have rather long narrow trumpets and outer petals which are slightly swept back. Its about 30cm/12″ tall growing slightly taller than this in our shady spot. They really are looking good and deserving of the prestigious award of garden merit received from The Royal Horticultural Society.
Unlike Tulips which we grow in pots and treat as annuals the Daffs get stored after dying back, and either planted in more permanent positions in the borders or come Autumn replanted in tubs for the following Spring.
Although we have some taller Daffodils in the borders we now tend to plant up only the shorter varieties such as these highlighted today, so many to choose from and they all stand up so well regardless of the weather conditions.
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We also have Tete e Tete in tubs this year. This one reaches only 15/20cm/6/8″ in height.
It is generally said that each stem carries two or three blooms. We have two pots planted up with these little beauties. When the pictures were taken on the ninth of April there were still a lot of buds to open, some stems do have two blooms, however each bulb has produced three or four individual flowering stems.
The cold early Spring has resulted in this early blooming Daff to be later in coming into flower, I will not be surprised to see it still in bloom at the very end of the month and perhaps even into May.
I am not sure when Tete e Tete was introduced but in the 70s, mention a dwarf Daffodil and this one would have been the recommendation.
Plant your bulbs three inches deep in containers, at the front of the border or in the alpine garden in full sun/part shade and enjoy next Spring.
Tete e Tete also received the RHS prestigious award of garden merit.
Flowering in Aberdeen – March/April – Possibly late February
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The final Daffodil which I would like to highlight today is (Jack Snipe)
We grew this one for the first time last year and now would not dream of being without it in the garden.
This year we have fresh ones in pots and those from last year were planted in the border after flowering and looking good although not as yet fully open.
Jack Snipe in our garden grows to 30cm 12″ tall, the trumpet is yellow and the outer creamy white petals are reflexed.
Needless to say, Jack Snipe also received the RHS award of garden merit.
Of these three, if I were asked to place them in order of preference I would first go for – Jack Snipe – Tete e tete – February Gold.
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Before I start complaining more about this utterly miserable start to the Spring, I would really like to introduce you to this recently launched web service which provides a platform for gardeners to buy, sell and swap plants with other gardeners in their local area. Please take a moment to check out GreenPlantSwap.co.uk
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I have seen Winters in the past, here in the city, much colder than the one which is now supposed to be over, but never one as long. From the second week in March the temperature has almost remained between -1 and +5c, constant snow showers and wind chill making it feel even colder than the actual temperature. Today as I write this on the 9th of April a thin layer of snow covered the ground in the early morning.
Mr duck who dropped by at this time last year decided to look back again yesterday, just called on his own this time.
I guess Myra and I are now past the stage where major projects go on in our garden. Its more or less all about maintenance, and of course new plants regularly find their way into the borders. However can you see what we have added, a little preview below and when we get the area all sorted out I will let you have a better look. Well I say sorted out but it will probably take a few makeovers before we decide that we are satisfied.
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Hi Alistair
Please be aware that gardeners are NEVER satisfied – we are always moving something, transplanting something else, squeezing in something absolutely fabulous that we cannot live without.
We will all look forward to seeing your garden come alive again and getting more info on the wonderful plants you have.
I also have February Gold and Tete a Tete – your photos have caught them in all their sunny glory. I hope mine start appearing soon.
Thank you Astrid, I guess we must all have the same gardening gene.
Hi Alistair! My daffodils have started blooming very late too this year winter doesn’t want to end… I like the Jack Snipe above all, I agree. Maybe it’s because I feel I got a little fed up with the total yellow ones, although they remain one of the spring icons.
I do too have Mr and Mrs Duck coming and going under the leafless willows by the pond, I’d like them to nest but then the veggie garden would be in danger and then there are the dogs and the cat chasing the baby ducks eventually…
Alberto, I would have thought the Daffs would have been well over by now where you are.
Wow those are beautiful Alistair especially Jack Snipe – how unusual.
Alas I think my daffodils won’t be flowering until the summer at the rate they’re going!
Linda
Linda, We have a particularly late one named Reggae I really do expect to see this one still in bloom come June.
Hi Alistair, I like your daffodils, ours are naturalised into the grass and we bought mixed bulbs so we have alsorts, a few of them must be February Gold, but they’re always late – especially this year. At least the main display is happening now, approximately 3 weeks later than it should be, which is probably the same story everywhere else too.
Sunil, Its very true, it hasn’t just been Aberdeen this year which has suffered from the unseasonal cold weather.
Looking forward to that ‘better look’ in the following months to come! February Gold turned out two months late (not entirely its fault, blame the weather) but well worth it.
M & G, Hmmm, I reckon the term (better look) could be open to interpretation.
Alistair your daffodils are lovely, mine are late too, I’m glad your weather is improving though you may also have the wind and rain tonight! Frances
Looks like Monday is going to be better Frances, perhaps I will get a chance to start the fence painting.
I planted tetes-a-tetes too this year – still waiting.
I had to cheat and check some old photos of your garden. Is it a new summer house ?
Yes it is, its placed where the old aluminium greenhouse used to be.
Hi Alistair,
The winter has been never ending here as well. I have a few snowdrops and that is all. So nice then to see your sunny daffodils! I have noticed several other bloggers planting bulbs in pots and I think it is such a smart idea. It is nice to know that they can carry on from year to year in the pots as well. I will definitely be putting this idea into practice for next year.
Jennifer, Daffodil bulbs grown in pots are best left to die down naturally and then removed, stored away and then replanted in fresh compost come Autumn.
Hi Alistair, poor daffs, they really have had to wait a long time before it has been safe to bloom! I am with you on planting dwarf daffs in borders nowadays, they seem to work much better with other herbaceous plants, plus they die back more tidily. I am a new fan of “February Gold” and will certainly plant some more this Autumn, and couldn’t be without tete-a-tete either. As for it just being about maintenance, you may have to work harder to get new plants in nowadays but we both know that to a gardener, no garden is ever finished! If nothing else, as plants grow larger they may outgrow their alloted space, so I am quite sure you will both still find plenty of development opportunities. I do love they way that mop of bronze grass sits proudly in the middle of that border, it looks a little like the hair of a cartoon character that for some reason I cannot for the life of me remember the name of…
Janet, we have a love, hate relationship with the brown Carex – Myra loves it, I hate it.
I’m new to yellow daffs this year. Only just planting some last autumn. I do like that Jack Snipe – I’ll will be on the look out for them in the autumn!
Your garden is looking good. Only one criticism though…you said 3 days of sunshine and you kept it all to yourself…lol!
Well Angie not exactly full days of sunshine, however today is beautiful and warmer than the forecast suggested.
How marvelous to have daffs blooming even with the cold weather. Mine are not open yet but this week is supposed to warm up finally so I expect quite a show. Your weather sounds like ours this spring…not great but it has kept the early bulbs blooming longer.
Donna, amazing, 58f here today that is the warmest since last September.
Hi Alistair, February gold is beautiful and seems to be just as late as the daffodils in my garden. I still have daffs in bud, never happened in mid April before! I keep planting new bulbs every year but I always get disappointed that the bulbs stop flowering after a couple of years. I have a large area right at the front of the garden where I planted 100 mixed daffodils in autumn 2010. They flowered beautifully spring 2011, not so much last spring, and I had only 4 flowers this spring! The area is in full sun and I always leave all the leaves to they are dead and can easily be pulled out of the ground. Last year this area even got some very expensive chicken manure meant for spring bulbs, in hope that it would increase flowering. This summer the bulbs are going OUT. Any tips for me for successful long-term growing of daffodils? Much appreciated if you could shed a light on this for me. Take care, Helene.
Hi Helene, I often hear of daffs producing only leaves after a few years. The problem did stop for me when I got myself under control and left the leaves to die back naturally. Another reason for this is not planting them deep enough. This next reason, I only ever heard it the once. (Do not use cattle manure as a top dressing as Daffs do not appreciate it and will often produce blind shoots), if it is true I wonder if they also object to chicken manure.
I’m surprised your daffodils did so well planted in shade – especially with this horrible winter we’re still in!!! I guess there will be no real spring this year! I can’t wait to see your big reveal! I have often wondered what I will do when I’m finally in maintenance only mode in the garden. I guess there’s always some project to be had!
I guess your right Holley there is always something to do although the major projects lessen.
The daffs are so late this year and I cannot remember being so relieved and delighted to see them. When we lived in Essex, we had early daffs flower before Christmas one year. They had no special treatment – they had been planted in the borders for a couple of years. What adaptable plants! February Gold shines in your photos – what a quality daff. I hope you’ll be able to sit in your summerhouse and enjoy your garden.
Seems to be the same situation throughout the UK this year.
Wow Alistair… I know exactly what you mean about this winter and there is still no end in sight… just more cold and damp. I just got back from out of state and saw a few daffodils farther south, but that was it. I am getting very concerned as we have two bus tours, coming from a few hundred miles away, in the teens of May… it’s impossible to get the yard cleaned up… everything is sopping wet and there is still a fair amount of snow. Tomorrow I start cleaning up all the damage from the ice storm and do what I can from there. I need to get about 1400 seedlings into the greenhouse and out from under lights, but I’m not certain that I can keep the greenhouse warm enough over night! I definitely am possessed by the notoriious “cabin fever”. I suppose at some point this will all be past and probably 90 degrees all of a sudden… lets hope not! (the 90 degrees that is!) Take care, Larry
Larry, we had 58f a couple of days ago and it was surprising how pleasant this modest temperature felt after such a prolonged cold spell. I shall hope everything turns just perfect for your visitors.
The daffodils are lovely! Happy Spring and I hope it warms up soon! Jeannine
Oh Alistair it’s been awful hasn’t it. I think we’re fortunate to get 1 day a week with sunshine and double digit temperatures. We even had 3 trees fall down yesterday due to the storms. It’s lovely to finally see the daffodils in bloom – I’ve only got tete a tetes in flower as the rest haven’t braved the cold weather yet.
Rosie, On Monday it looked like things were getting much better, pretty miserable again today.
Beautiful daffodils Alistair. And did you know that Ducks only visit kind people? That’s an especially nice duck too…
Hi Linnie, I think you just made that up, I can’t stop laughing. To tell the truth, some people may think I am a bit soft, but kind! wait till I ask Myra.
I think February Gold is just plain mis-named. It blooms at the end of March to the beginning of April here too even in a normal year, if we have those anymore. This year it is bloomig right now. If you want a truly February blooming daffodil, you have to grow Rijnveld’s Early Sensation. Sometimes it gets frozen, but when it blooms it’s wonderful.
Checked it out Carolyn and it does indeed look like one to add to next years list.
tete a tete is delightful. I have some narcissus bulbs, but they are not happy here. They remind me of Switzerland, or London.
Diana, I guess they are more suited to the cool climate.
I love daffodills and have plenty of them in the house and in the garden. I have to say tete a tete daffodills are the earliest in my garden and they always return next year, not all daffs do that for me. White cultivars are nice too but if I forget to deadhead them, they usually do not return the next year. Your garden looks great as it is, but it is human nature to want to change things all the time isn’t it. Enjoy spring!
Linda, we don’t seem to have much luck at all with the white ones
I’m particularly fond of ‘Jack Snipes’, and will look for that one here next fall when the bulbs come in. Because we have so much trouble with deer (tulip lovers), I’ve started planting more daffodils and have been pleasantly surprised at how many different cultivars are available. Your garden is lovely:)
Really lovely daffodils, Alistair, although when I read the post title I had to make sure I was reading the latest post :). I have variable luck with daffs because so many of them need winter chills. Only tazettas rebloom reliably for me. Why do you treat tulips as annuals?
Hi Masha, Seems like it is quite common practise to treat tulips as annuals in the northern hemisphere. Hybrid tulips generally weaken considerably after the first year, some of the smaller species types can be left to naturalise.
We too had a touch of snow this weekend. It seems like the start to a strange year of weather. My daffs had a snow coat this weekend and the tulips are on their sides. Hopefully the sun gets them upright again. I plant the species tulips and they multiply each year reliably. Love Mr. duck. A nice visitor to your garden pond.
Donna,Hopefully thats the last of the snow and cold weather now, seldom gets hot here, perhaps pleasant would best describe a nice Summer day. Mind you everything is suddenly coming on leaps and bounds.