Pippi21, You don't have to dig them up. They're not like gladiolus. Just leave them in the ground and they'll come up again next spring and bloom again. No need to dig and replant them. The bulbs of a daffodil, its flowers, and its foliage are toxic to animals and usually voles, moles, squirrels, and deer will not eat them. If they do, they'll get a BIG stomach ache. Animals usually know to leave them alone. The flowers will fade and drop off, but the leaves will remain to provide nutrients to feed the bulb. The bulbs will colonize, growing additional bulbs and your daffodil groups will multiply, creating larger daffodil patches as the years go by. When you buy them, look for good "naturalizing" daffodils. Usually the seller will put this in the variety's description. I have Dutch Masters like you do, but they don't "naturalize" or "colonize" as good as others. I like Dutch Master because the flower is so beautiful. Dutch Master does like to be divided as it's a large bulb and when crowded will stop blooming like mine did this spring. If you have trouble with animals digging up bulbs, stay away from tulips which varmits love! Try Brent & Becky's catalog or website. Their prices are good, have a great customer service department, are very customer friendly, and ship bulbs of good quality, satisfaction guaranteed. I don't know what happened that so many of your daffodils didn't come up. Daffodils usually don't get eaten. Make sure you plant at the right time of year and read the directions for your zone. Good luck.

Well, silly me. Two weeks later, they are in full bloom. I do think I will divide them this year, though. The clumps are getting very large. Thanks, Iris gal. I'll be sure to give them a nice feed while I'm at it.

If these were one or two gallon size plants, chances are they were simply too immature to set buds last summer/fall. Even for larger sizes, it's quite common to not have any bud set in the first year after planting out. Given your experience with the root balls, it is probably worthwhile to dig up one or two to see what shape they are in even if this has little or nothing to do with the lack of bud set. Seriously matted root balls need more than a bit of prying with a shovel. You need to eliminate circling roots at the edges and bottom. This may mean cutting with a sharp knife, using a hand cultivator as a claw and/or a forceful stream of water from a hose to expose1-2 inches of the root ends. You'll lose some roots and think you're committing rhododendron murder, but it's the only long term cure. Once that's done, water by immersing in a bucket for the ones you dug and letting a hose trickle at the base of the plant for a half hour or so each time they need water for the rest and after replanting. A sprinkler hose will not wet a dry peat-based root ball. You want to wet the root ball, not the surrounding soil. Saturated soil makes it more difficult for the roots to extend out from the existing ones. You may have to water like this for a second year as well.

Thanks for replying, Sinfonian & EG. The problem I'm having is that the females aren't even getting a chance to bloom. The unopened flower bud and base (ovum?) of the female are turning yellow. Taking a look at the plants today, there are larger females that are growing, so maybe this was just happening with the first females that appeared? Have you noticed this before? Oh. I am planning on hand pollinating if/when I get the chance. I don't want to take the risk!