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.

" I’ve waited over a month for it to set" Not saying this is always true but many jelly recipes specify 6 weeks as normal required setting time. So waiting a month isn't necessarily out of line. But as floral said, it all depends on the recipe and methods used. When it comes to using commercial 'extracts' (and their additives not found in home made extracts) my wife tells me it all depends on when it is added and the mix temp at the time of adding it. Dave

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.

There's a lot of truth to many of the things brought up, and people wax nostalgically about "the good old days" but not many people really want to go back too far. Few will give up their cell phones, cars, remote controls, cable/satellite TV, microwaves automatic washers and the like. I'll admit I sure appreciate a lot of the conveniences but I also enjoyed going "back to nature" at the lake. No electricity out there so you got a taste of what it was like 100+ years ago. And certain conveniences there too. But that's a different topic. And me, I really like a large yard. I don't like being where you can reach out the window and shake hands with the neighbors. One of the reasons I bought where I did. Nice large lawn. I much prefer grass to blacktop or concrete. Healthier too. Trees and grass absorb CO2 and emit O2. It's part of photosynthesis. My dad couldn't figure out why I planted so many trees in my yard. I run the a/c much less because the house is much cooler when it's shaded. With grass rather than blacktop or concrete, it's much cooler in the summer and the smell of fresh cut grass is a nice smell, quite unlike the chemical smell of "mountain freshness" or whatever they call that stench they put in the laundry detergents and softeners that people seem so addicted to. Used to be when the clothes would stink was an indicator it's time to wash the clothes and yes, back when, you could wear a shirt and/or pants more than an hour before changing them. Having lawns instead of hard surfaces also lets the water tables fill up again from the rains and snow. Look at the areas with water shortage issues. Generally they have far more impervious surfaces. We are doing our best to fight Mother Nature and can't figure out why she gets ticked off and gives a little slap on the wrists now and then to remind us to wake up. And FWIW, I haven't watered my lawn for over 25 years and have a much nicer lawn overall than most of the neighbors. The hottest part of the summer the grass will go dormant. When that happens you don't need to mow. If you water it, then you have to mow it! What's wrong with this picture? :) And the one I'll add is how people used to "cook" coffee at home. They didn't have to go pay $5 at Megabucks for coffee with a lot of milk in it! Used a mug or a cup and saucer (how many remember saucer and blow? Course the coffee was much hotter then too because women in those days knew that coffee was hot and not to spill it in their laps and run to a lawyer. You'd fix it rather than just toss it and buy new. And nobody bought all new appliances because the color trend had changed! You could get your appliances in any color you wanted, as long as it was white, possibly with some chrome trim. Home buyers didn't know the phrase "kitchen needs 'updating'"! And for the rare circumstance if the washer quit for good and was unrepairable, you surely didn't buy a new dryer to go with it! And back then if you didn't have that item you wanted needed for whatever, you didn't make a special trip to the store. You called a neighbor or went over and asked to borrow a cup of sugar or whatever. Or you would "make do" without. If clothes went out of style, you wore clothes that were out of style until they wore out. Although few would go back to those days, many sure could learn something from those days couldn't they?