It depends whether we're in a La Nina or El Nino year. Truly.

Around November, 'usually' we have a spell of dry weather; the first of the hosing weather. The spring damp ends and all sorts of bushes and grasses start in to mature their seeds. The daffodils, apart from the late late show, start to brown off. The tazettas hang on, though.

Coming into December (longest day month) they're ready to lift.

I have a heavyish soil so they come well-coated with dirt. I put them into big buckets and leave them under cover to dry off naturally. A few weeks later I clean off the dirt and the remains of the leaves and roots. Then they go into onion baggies and get hung up in the garden shed - cool and protected.

In the last year I've been discovered by some wretched predator with fat bulb-eating grubs in its life cycle. They are fascinated by the special-to-me bulbs grown in containers. Usually the ones that dislike disturbance... And prefer being well-dried to set up for next spring. (Think 'Sun Disc'. Or Iris bucharica.)

Those bulbs are usually left in the pot and then shaken out for cleaning in autumn, gloating over the increase, and repotting. Bulbs with a touch of cyclamineus get left where summer rain will get through as they prefer cooler, moister woodland. So my new pests have plenty of time to feast. A new routine is being prepared this year to see if I can prevent the losses. Fleece comes into it.

The biggest hazard is spearing the bulbs with whatever I use for lifting. Pretty much guaranteed to lead to disorder and decay - though the daughter bulbs usually make it through.

TOTALLY OFF TOPIC: Sue, has anyone done any work on daylight length and night temperatures? A link would be so welcome. N canaliculatus and henriquesii are the species under consideration.

Hi, chemocurl. I dug mine this year and used your technique, as closely as I could, and they did GREAT. Thank you!

Although I had lost some names, I had been tagging clumps with a good description, plus bloom time since early spring. I used good old vinyl blinds cut into six inch strips and just put them down into the clumps, but not all the way into the ground. They were only out there a few weeks, so it worked.

I dug the bulbs in late spring after the foliage had turned yellow and brown, but while I could still find the clumps. I pulled the clumps apart and laid the bulbs, with foliage attached, in single layers onto newspapers in the basement. I laid clumps of the same variety together and kept their tags with them. I left them in the basement like that for most of the summer. Then in August, I went down and broke off the foliage and put the bulbs, with tags into mesh bags. (I had been saving onion bags all summer. Very handy.)

I doubt I lost five bulbs. Thanks so much for your help!

Just as a note, I had several kinds of jonquils that had formed softball sized clumps of very small bulbs. I have since read that when bulbs are planted too shallowly, they will "blast" into small sizes, but make dozens. I planted them a bit more deeply this week.

Thank you both for your input. I didn't mention it in the Subject line, but this is #10 (at the moment anyway) of the proposed new FAQ under Daffs.

Since there are so many little variations, and really no one 'right' way, I'm thinking of posting all of the above ways, with a little editing. Of course will run it by you all before inputting them.

vetivert, (I'm going to start abbreviating that to just v v, OK?)

I put them into big buckets and leave them under cover to dry off naturally. A few weeks later I clean off the dirt and the remains of the leaves and roots.
I have always been told that putting daffs in plastic, for any amount of time at all, is a very bad thing. Would you mind if I would edit what you posted to substitute 'container' instead of "big buckets"?

Donna,
I don't remember helping you before digging time, but am glad you had digging and storing success.

Just as a note, I had several kinds of jonquils that had formed softball sized clumps of very small bulbs. I have since read that when bulbs are planted too shallowly, they will "blast" into small sizes, but make dozens. I planted them a bit more deeply this week.
hmmm...had never heard that. I planted maybe 5 bulbs of Sun Disc in 2006 quite shallowly and dug them this year. I don't recall them being softball sized clumps, but maybe it is because they are by nature a pretty small bulb anyway, since it is a miniature. I had 'lots' of blooms from the clump in the spring so I don't think there were any adverse problems being planted shallowly. I don't remember how much they had multiplied...think I will start noting that info when I dig. Maybe it is because of different climates and different soils, or maybe it depends upon the cultivar?

Here is a tip too for those who have a lot of different daffs to dig. In the spring, when the daffs are in bloom, one can mark clumps needing dug by circling the foliage at ground level with some bright surveyor's tape with info written on it...bulb name if known, div/color, if that's all that is known, # of blooms, etc. The tape is available at any hardware or big box store and you can then just write the info on one end with a black sharpie. The writing will hold up for even more than one year, in case they get missed being dug the first year they are marked for digging.
TOTALLY OFF TOPIC: Sue, has anyone done any work on daylight length and night temperatures? A link would be so welcome. N canaliculatus and henriquesii are the species under consideration.

v v,
Now that is a totally new wrinkle with me (something I have not heard of before).