I have a book on bulbs here and it says that the most prolific of daffodils needs to be divided every five to six years. Some daffs are slower to increase, in which case you can also just divide them every decade or so. I grow Mount Hood, this is the second year they will bloom and already the flowers on each bulb have tripled and there are bulbils in sight as well. I might have to divide mine every four years... I guess it is best that you keep a journal for your daffs and monitor closely how much they increase each year. If you have trouble seeing how more new growth could come up in the limited space between this year's growth, that would be a sign that it is time to divide. I can't find the bit about when to divide these, but I gather all bulbs are best divided during dormancy, which would mean any time between the moment the leaves fall off and the moment the ground freezes, although I think earlier is better. I think that fall is a bad idea because by then, the plant may have grown more roots that reach deeper, and it will be that much harder to lift them, plus the new root growth would be wasted and it wouldn't have enough time to regenerate properly by next spring. But this is just my admittedly not perfect logic speaking. I would try to do it as soon as the leaves fall off. That way, you do it before new growth starts but after the plant is done producing for the current year. It would then be about to start using its gathered reserves to grow new roots, so your newly transplanted daff would be nicely nestled into place by the time spring comes.

Some points for you, and this thread: 1. Stems oft don't look woody until Fall or Winter. 2. If you have this potted 100% of the time, simply set under a deck, in a shed, or against a foundation and this should be adequate protection for your dormant stems in zone 7. 3. Michigan Bulb makes up names for all of its plants. Probably to circumvent any patents that may exist, as they are reputed to be a shady outfit. The REAL name for the plant is probably something along the lines of 'Bavaria' or 'Red Ace', NOT 'Raspberry Parfait'. 4. Most bi-colored hydrangea bloom on previous year's growth, hence the need to NOT cut these back. Wait until early June to cut back any stems that haven't begun to produce green growth again. 5. The cow manure probably made the pH of the soil so rich that the heavy pigment of the flowers made the white edges unnoticeable. --------------------------------------------------------- 6. PNW didn't get the Polar Vortex nearly as bad as the central and eastern US.

We won't go into the why of this lifestyle change as it's none of my business so let's make sure the 1985 is not going to be a major money pit. Have you checked out the flooring to make sure it's solid and hopefully not pressed board. Look underneath the bathroom toilets and the kitchen sink for water damage. If the floors are not good sub flooring there will be major problems there. I'd hate to see you get up in the wee hours to go to the bathroom and fall through the floor. Do your homework regarding the different types of surfaces in your MH and what it takes to get a coat of paint to stick. Most of the surfaces in these older MH's are some form of plastic. Not properly done paint just peels off. What you want to do can be done but just do your homework so that you don't have to spend money later removing it and doing it over which would be much more costly. How about the roof. Check the ceilings in all rooms including closets for water stains and also go up and check the roof for problems. Why buy someone elses problems? Good luck.

Hi Manur83. Thanks for taking the time to reply. They have been 2 summers without blooms, hopefully this, their 3rd year. I suspect we have been impatient. My wife says they came in small containers and they weren't very big in spring of '15 when they were planted but they grew nicely. Last summer (their 2nd) they were a little taller, nice green leaves, healthy looking but no sign of buds or flowers. Like you say, maybe they were focusing on growth and we've probably been expecting too much. This spring, now, the leaves look very healthy AND we have buds. Making progress :-). Fertilizing...each spring, just as most stuff is starting to come up, we give all plants a healthy dose of bone meal which apparently is very high in phosphorous. But I'm sort of torn whether to fertilize any more. Did go to Endless summer web site and they recommend a high phosphorous fertilizer for "BloomStruck" late spring early summer. We gave them Bone Meal early spring. I don't know whether to give them another shot of fertilizer or not, now or later in the season...or what to give them. I'm thinking, maybe some rose food 18-24-16 in about 3 weeks... High in phosphorous with some iron. But not sure. If you or others have thoughts on this, would like to hear them! We have Annabelle's in 3 locations in our yard, and they do fantastic with nothing but Bone Meal in the Spring and water. The ES plant's card says to "keep soil evenly moist" whatever that means. So keeping an eye on that making sure the soil doesn't get dry. We are hopeful of getting flowers this year, would be nice. Thanks for your comments.