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A North Carolina Garden Blog

How Not to Plant Daffodils

11/8/2012

21 Comments

 
In gardening, as in life, sometimes it's hard to let go of a fantasy. My fantasy was Daffodil Hill. 

The inspiration came from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens' Daffodil Hill, one of my favorite spots in New York City.  After a bleak, gray winter, there is no happier sight than that host of golden daffodils, fluttering and dancing in the breeze.  

Our house in Cary is a corner lot with a steep hill on the side.  When we moved in, said hill was covered with grass - or rather, "grass," that special North Carolina blend of Whatever Grows in Compacted Clay.  Mowing it was like riding a roller coaster. First you chug slowly and laboriously up the hill, praying all the while that you will not slip backwards.  At the top, you do an about-face, then you and the lawn mower go flying downhill at breakneck speed.  After a few brushes with death, the thrill wore off and we decided to let the adjacent ivy take over.  That's when the fantasy kicked in.
Picture
2006. Mowing this hillside was quite an adventure.
The plan was simple: plant 100 daffodils on the hill, then sit back and wait for them to spread.  Toss on a little bulb fertilizer each year, and voilà - Daffodil Hill South.  

I was hopeful about my chances.  Bulbs can be tricky in the south, but daffodils are among the better ones for warm climates. The trick is choosing your variety carefully - some do just fine with minimal winter chill, others do not - so I made sure to buy a mix suited to the area.  Daffodils are also supposed to be somewhat more tolerant of clay soil than other bulbs.  I amended the soil as much as I could, hole by hole, then sat back and waited.

I am now 4 years into my little experiment and, sadly, Daffodil Hill South is not going to make it into any guidebooks.  Some varieties (most notably Actaea) are multiplying well, but many others (especially the showy large-flowered varieties) are going blind.  Translation: you get foliage but no flowers.  Far from getting bigger and better each year, my display just gets weaker and punier.  
Picture
Daffodil Hill, Spring 2010. Hardly the stuff of poetry.
Now that the rose-colored glasses have come off, I recognize that it was an ill-conceived plan from the get-go.  What was I thinking? The soil is crummy, and no amount of pine bark will ever change that, especially on a steep hill.  The ivy has now taken over and is probably hogging all the nutrients.  And between the ivy and the northern exposure, the daffodils don't get enough light.  

A few feet away, in a more exposed part of the yard, my Jetfire daffodils are doing just fine.  Although they don't get a tremendous amount of sun and the soil isn't perfect, they multiply nicely and flower every year.  Meanwhile, Daffodil Hill limps along.  
Picture
"Jetfire" daffodils on the slope adjacent to Daffodil Hill.
Last fall, in a last-ditch attempt to salvage my dream, I put in another round of bulbs.  This fall, older but wiser, I'm sitting it  out.  Plant in haste, repent at leisure.
21 Comments
Anne Himmelfarb
11/8/2012 04:49:43 am

The daffodils you have look very nice; is there another early spring flower that you could fill in the bare spots with? There is something called Lenten Rose that I've seen people growing near me in Maryland--is that earlier than daffodils or could you mix the two?

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Galloping Horse Gardener link
11/9/2012 12:40:55 am

I do like hellebores (Lenten Roses) and have some in the area in my yard that I call the Valley of Death. The problem with my hill is that the ivy has now taken over, so it would smother everything else I try to grow around it. I think I need to rename it Ivy Hill.

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Jason link
11/8/2012 06:11:59 am

How discouraging! I don't know about growing bulbs in warm climates, so I have no suggestions. I empathize, though. I know what it's like when you see something in your mind and the reality doesn't really come close. Would you consider planting something like Virginia Bluebells, with a late emerging perennial to cover up the decaying leaves? Though I'm not sure how Mertensia does in clay. Prairie Nursery has a section of their website called Clay Busters, you might want to look at that.

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Galloping Horse Garden link
11/9/2012 12:44:11 am

I'm not sure - I vaguely recall that Mertensia is borderline in this climate (too hot), and I doubt it could stand up to my ivy. A lot of those really nice spring plants like pulmonaria and brunnera don't like heat and humidity. Thanks for the Clay Busters suggestion - it sounds like it's exactly what I need.

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Jean at Jean's Garden link
11/11/2012 12:23:50 pm

I just recently discovered your blog in the new listings at Blotanical, and I've become an instant fan. I do a monthly feature on my blog, Jean's Garden, where I review and recommend garden blogs that I think my readers would enjoy. Your blog is one of two I am highlighting this month. My post reviewing your blog just went up and your blog will be featured on my sidebar throughout the month. Thanks for the delightful writing.

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Galloping Horse Garden link
11/12/2012 01:32:50 am

Jean, thank you very much! And thanks for letting me discover your own blog - it is terrific and makes me even more appreciative that you have chosen to highlight mine.

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Flâneur Gardener link
11/14/2012 08:40:16 pm

I came here through Jean, and she really does a great job at digging out "must-visit" blogs!

Shame about your daffs, but then maybe you should just embrace the ivy and perhaps plant a small shrub in it if you want something to break it up a little. A vigorous rambling or climbing rose might also work (after all, they DO like a bit of clay...) and just interweave itself with the ivy along the ground.

Donna@Gardens Eye View link
11/11/2012 02:10:18 pm

How disappointing. Sometimes our dreams are meant for another time and in adjusting them we find the true purpose of our garden space...I wish you luck.

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Galloping Horse Garden link
11/12/2012 01:48:18 am

You're so right. I think my Daffodil Hill dream was meant for another lifetime!

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shenandoah kepler link
11/13/2012 06:42:42 am

Ivy isn't bad, though. Nice to have something green going on! I saw your blog recommended in Jean's Garden and thought I'd visit. Jean is always showing us some really nice places. Thanks for the photos and thoughts! Best to you!

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Galloping Horse Garden link
11/13/2012 08:01:45 am

Plus you don't have to mow ivy! Thank you so much for visiting. I found your blog through Jean's Garden as well. It's wonderful! I look forward to following it.

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Curbstone Valley Farm link
11/13/2012 10:57:06 am

Just dropping in via Jean's blog, always fun to find new gardening blogs!

We have very steep slopes, and when we first moved here, like you, I envisioned a beautiful hillside covered in daffodils. Over 2 years I planted more than 500 bulbs. They came up, but were dwarfed by the scale of the slope. Since then I've pulled about a third of them up (to make way for dairy goat pasture), and the gophers have moved at least a third of what remains. The ones that do the best here are the tiny Tete-a-Tetes, but they're so small, you can't even see them from the road! I now regret planting any of them, especially as it was a lot of work, but now am too lazy to dig them back up ;)

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Galloping Horse Garden link
11/13/2012 02:43:12 pm

It's so nice to know that I am not alone! Thanks so much for visiting the blog. Am I correct in thinking you are in California? I am surprised that even Tete a Tetes would survive there!

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Jennifer link
11/15/2012 01:27:29 am

I have a few tricky areas where deep shade is my challenge when it comes to spring bulbs. They come up the first year, but fizzle in the second year. I keep experimenting though. This year I am going to try out snowdrops which are supposedly more shade tolerant. We will see how this latest experiment goes come spring.

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Galloping Horse Garden link
11/15/2012 03:54:54 am

I've heard that snowdrops are good for shade. That sounds like a good option. I hope it works out!

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Laurrie link
12/3/2012 11:22:04 pm

I have had such garden fantasies and dreams too, only to be squashed by reality. It was fun to read yours : )
I also tried to create a daffodil sweep and got zilch for my efforts. I have learned that you can't plant dozens of bulbs, you have to plant hundreds and really thousands (yes, literally) to get a big impact. Yours actually look okay, you just need a lot more. Good luck! I want to come back and see a thousand blooming golden daffodils on your slope.

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Galloping Horse Garden link
12/4/2012 12:35:05 am

I think you are right - thousands would have been better than 100. But how much can my back take? More important - I love your blog, so thanks for writing in so I could find it! I think we may be kindred spirits in the world of gardening...

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Nell Jean link
1/20/2013 06:15:43 am

I can certainly identify with efforts to have Daffodil Walks and Daffodil Hills and Rivers of Muscari -- I learned to be happy with a trickle of what best grows here.

I, too, came here by way of Jean's blog, glad she pointed me this way.

Reply
Galloping Horse Garden link
1/20/2013 08:47:47 am

Thanks for visiting - I'm glad you found me! I've enjoyed your blog as well - it is always so helpful for me to learn from experienced Southern gardeners how they manage to be successful in this climate.

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DH
7/4/2015 12:03:24 pm

Contemplating my own Daffodil Hill as a surprise in the spring for my mother. I'll keep my fantasy vision in check and hope for the best

Reply
Galloping Horse Garden link
7/5/2015 09:39:55 am

Good luck. Just don't do what I did!

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    The Galloping Horse Gardener is a native New Yorker who packed it in in 2005 to live under the radar in Cary, North Carolina. In 2014, she removed to a new secure location somewhere in Raleigh.

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