Usually daffodil bulbs are planted in autumn in time to catch autumn or winter rains.

Over the cooler months they first develop roots and then put up their leaf shoots.

As the weather becomes warmer the leaves grow very rapidly and the flower stems begin to emerge.

When the flowers have finished it pays to feed the plants with some tomato fertiliser. This helps the bulb to form the buds for the next season.

As the spring moves into summer the leaves gradually become yellow, wither, and die right back. This is normal. The bulb is taking a rest over the dry season.

Some daffodil types - such as Earlicheer, start into growth before the trumpet-style daffodils - and keep their leaves for much longer. If they are living through a wet summer (or someone is watering them) it will take much longer for them to go into resting.

But they do need to rest.

While they are growing the bulbs are also creating offsets - small bulbs - which stay attached to the main bulb until they are big enough to flower. This may take a couple of years. Over that time all you will see are leaves.

At this time of the year stop watering. Let the leaves die back. Let the soil in the pot become seriously dry. (It can take ages, particularly if the weather becomes cooler. The plants just aren't using so much. If you add more the bulbs might rot because the roots also die right back.) The bulbs need to stop growing for a while.

Later on, maybe November or December, repot the bulbs into fresh mix and water them once. If they were growing in the ground they would start making their roots in summer, making use of whatever water is reaching them. This is always a good time to thin out the bulbs so they aren't too crowded in the pots. Early daffodils really bulk up and have big roots systems, too.

After that, I would wait until the soil is dry at least an inch down in the pot before watering again. There's no need to feed them at this time. They have plenty of food already stored.

If your drought has eased, and you can put your bulbs out in the yard to catch the rain, you could do that - probably on the south east side to catch the morning sun. Make sure your pots have 'feet' under them so the pots are well-drained.

Earlicheers and daffodils like them begin to flower in the early spring - whatever that month is for you. Perhaps February/March.

If they don't flower for you next year - don't despair. If you can plant them in the ground in a sunny place where they can delve down and which also gets ample rain they should flower again for you the following year.

Or you can let them grow on in the pot - feed after flowering time, let them dry off, and get back into their cycle of production.

Personally, I don't think you need to put the bulbs in the fridge to have success in flowering. If your local temperatures are extreme, however, it would be prudent to put the pot/s into a cool zone on the northern side of your house over the hottest months of the year.

prismaticaurora,

The previous post provides some very good information. However, I must differ with them on a couple of pionts:
1) Spring-flowering bulbs are not good candidates for pots unless they being "forced".
2) All spring-flowering bulbs require a chill period of 10 to 12 twelve weeks at 35 to 45 degrees F. in order to bloom properly.
3) From the time of planting in the fall until they die down naturally, they must be kept consistantly moist (not wet or they will rot). If not the bulbs will deteriorate and decline.

I found some additional good information at the link below and they have a pretty good newsletter also. I hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening Resource

I cannot disagree with the information from the zone 6 poster. I don't know what conditions apply there.

I do know, by looking out the window just now, that many spring bulbs do grow, without forcing, in pots. And flower. Provided the pots are deep enough for decent root growth, and the bulbs aren't left to become congested. Repotted every one to two years, depending on the age of the bulbs.

In my zone 9 version we rarely experience extremes of temperature. For me it is safe to lift my Narcissus and Tulipa bulbs and store them dry in cool conditions, then replant anywhen from February to May here in the Southern Hemisphere.

I prefer to keep small bulbs such as Ixia, Freesia, Romulea in soil and relatively dry over summer. Lachenalia get the seriously dry treatment - otherwise I don't get flowers.

For chill periods - it's the fall in temperature at night that is significant. The clear signal that the season is changing. The cooling of the soil. If you can't easily provide that diurnal shift then the bulbs do need to come out of the pot and into the vegie bin in the fridge. Or discard them. Or send them to a friend in a cooler climate for the winter. (It has been done. I'm not joking.)

Several of the Narcissus Divisions are rated as suitable for zone 10 at the upper limit. Tazetta (which includes Erlicheer, for example) is one of them. I agree they enjoy more water than many of the 'blue leaf' daffodils, and they really dig in deeply when planted in the garden. They develop huge bulbs and do well in fairly congested clumps.

That being so, it may be 'better' to plant these bulbs out into soil and start over with a fresh bulb. It may also be worth the adventure of seeing whether or not it can be brought back into flowering next season.

FWIW we had a very long summer-autumn this year where the rains were delayed and the temperatures stayed relatively high. This year's flowering has not been delayed, is robust, and there has been enough rain to ensure good growth, with no 'hot snaps' to finish the flowering early.

Sometimes it's worth taking traditional advice into account - then seeing what's different in one's own area. So long as it doesn't cost a lot ;-D.

I just have to add my two cents that spring flowering bulbs make excellent container plants and in cooler zones than 9 and 10, forcing is not a requirement. My garden is always in a constant state of flux and where to plant spring bulbs where they are allowed to grow without possible disturbance is always a challenge. So I grow 'em containers and then place the pots as desired around my garden for spots of color when bloom time occurs. I've got plenty of ingound bulbs as well, but nothing beats a bright and cheery container of daffs on your front steps in the middle of a gray early spring.

Because the OP is in such a mild zone less suited to many spring flowering bulbs, I'd think that selection of specific types most adapted to those conditions is very important, which vetivert outlined nicely. Excluding that, reliable blooming will only occur if the bulbs receive a sufficient chill period referred to in the other post.