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Gardening in New Zealand

Any sugestions what to plant with daffodils

24 years ago

I have quite a large patch of garden that has daffodil bulbs in, Fine when the daffodils are up but boring when they are dormant. Area gets sun in winter as its under a large maple tree. ,Some sun in summer but mostly dappled shade. Any nice ideas for annuals or perrenials that will cohabbit with the daffodils?

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Comments (3)

mutzi
24 years ago
I would probably plant an old favourite, aquilegia, in an area like that. The books say that they prefer moist soil, but I have found that once they are established, they do well in a dry spot, as long as they get a bit of mulch now and then. They flower after the daffs have finished, and their ferny leaves cover the dying daff leaves well. Another companion with similar, though finer, ferny leaves would be thalictrum dipterocarpum (usually sold by garden centers as t. delavayi) "Hewitts Double". Also various hellebores would give some bulk to the whole picture. Another option could be ajuga reptans, with its deep blue flowers.
Good luck, yvonne, I hope you find something you like to go with the daffs. Boring bits are...well...just plain boring, eh?
yvonnej
Original Author
24 years ago
Thanks Mutzi, I have heaps of aquilegia seed so may do that . I like the idea of the thalictrum. Have got hellibores in the adjoining garden so guess repeating the theme will be reasonably sensible and tie it all together.Also cost effective The hellibores are producing quite a few baby plants.
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I wouldn't go by what I have to say, but I'll tell you what I did. I bought some king Alfred daffodils, a pink ruffled one and a big bag of mixed. Planted them all last weekend. Supposed to dig the hole twice as deep as the bulb. Well, for most of the bulbs that wasn't a problem, however, the King alfred bulbs were HUGE! I was able to pick and choose and I chose bulbs with at least 3 offshoots and the darned things are bigger than my fist. I've read that the bulbs will pull themselves down to the appropriate depth anyway, so I dug them in as deep as the trowel would let me - which was about the size of the bulbs. (I dug individual holes in the lawn). I planted some daffs last year and will have to move them soon. I've read that daffs can be planted now, to give them a chance to establish themselves before winter. Hope they're right!
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There is no frost heave problem, not even in New Jersey, where I used to grow bulbs. He may be right about planting them 12" deep, I don't know. I've never tried it. Is this the same guy who said you need to freeze pea seeds? Daffodils and tulips need a lot of sun to build the next year's bulb. Tulips need more sun than daffs. Daffs will grow in just about any soil, but tulips need sand to sandy loam. If the soil is sandy enough, they can take summer watering. I sprinkle a little dolomite lime on the ground in early spring, just as the shoots are coming out of the ground. I also give them a little balanced fertilizer at the same time. Bone meal is OK too, but is not as balanced as 5-10-10 or something like that. And bone meal doesn't have much potassium, which the bulbs need. I know you're not supposed to mix lime and nitrogen fertilizer, because some of the nitrogen is lost, but I don't worry about it, since the bulbs don't need much nitrogen anyway. As bboy pointed out, daffs can be attacked by Narcissus bulb fly. When you dig the infested bulbs in late summer, you will see that the center of the bulb is rotted and black. Discard the damaged bulbs. Google it to find out more about control. Nasty chemicals are involved. If you're successful, crowded clumps of bulbs will develop. You will need to replant them occasionally, or they will stop blooming.
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jolliness
24 years ago
Have you thought about Lamiums? The two varieties I know are "Pink Pixie" and "Silver Beacon". They do well in dappled light, make their own new plants, have dark green and silver small foliage, cover the ground, and show little pink flowers. I have had them with daffodils among them, four houses ago. I just remembered how nice they look!

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