DAFFODILS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 303, 18 September 1936, Page 16

DAFFODILS

Treatment After Flowering

. It is a common mistake to imagine that when daffodils have finished flowering they need no more attention during the current season, That is a certain way of destroying next year’s flowering prospects, possibly of weakening the bulbs to such an extent that they will never bloom Sgain.

Whether the bulbs are growing out of doors or in pots, you must cut off the flowers as soon as they fade. But the leaves must be preserved until they yellow and die down naturally. That is the secret of strengthening the bulbs and making each season’s display more beautiful than the one which preceded it. If you leave on the spent blooms, the seed vessels will fill with seed at the expense of food which should be stored in the bulb. Should you remove the leaves, no reserve material can possibly be stored in the bulb and daffodils next spring' are an impossibility. The treatment varies somewhat in accordance with the present position of the bulbs. If, for instance, you have a fading display in beds or borders it would be inconvenient to leave the plants there. You need the ground for summer bedding. After cutting off the flower stems three-quarters of the way back, lift each specimen with a trowel, damaging as few roots as possible and securing with each plant a nice ball of soil. Transplant quickly into a semishaded reserve border at a distance of 6in. apart. Before planting, dig the border a foot deep, incorporating with each square yard a mixture of equal parts of wellrotted manure and leaf-mould. Plant at the same depth as that which previously applied. Water thoroughly immediately afterward and as often as necessary until the daffodils are reestablished.