I have just returned from a delightful weekend in the Lake District with my sister to celebrate a family birthday.  We didn’t have the heat wave you had in the South but at least it didn’t rain and we were able to walk.  On Saturday we passed Allen Bank near Grasmere which was Wordworth’s home for a while and his ‘host of golden daffodils’ was brought to mind.

 Now is the time to plant the bulbs for delightful display in the Spring.

The native daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus  is about 25cm tall with slightly downturned warm yellow flowers but the trend in recent years has been for bigger bolder hybrids many with double flowers. 

I think there is a place for these large flowered long stemmed daffodils in roadside verges and parks but in the smaller garden the more diminutive forms work better. 

They are generally easy to grow providing the soil is fairly well drained, needing to be planted at least one and a half times their own depth below the surface – deeper is better than too shallow.  It is vital to leave the foliage to die down without using rubber bands to replenish the bulb for next year.  The most common complaint that daffodils go ’blind’ after a few years is due to shallow planting or impoverished soil so it is worth using a liquid fertiliser after flowering is finished.  

I like to use the dwarf daffodils in generous groups under shrubs, at the base of a hedge, at the edge of rough grass, in pots and containers - but not at the front of the border - it’s best to have emerging perennial foliage to hide the dying leaves.  I prefer to use a mass of one variety or perhaps two - that way you get your own ‘host of golden daffodils’. 

Narcissus ‘Tete-a-Tete’ is the most widely grown of the small narcissus and with good reason.

  It has a delightful miniature golden daffodil shape, is early to flower and is extremely reliable.   

N. February Gold is early and one of the best for naturalising,

 N. Baby Moon is a cultivated form of the species jonquil and has a rich sweet fragrance – it flowers in late April and needs a warm dry position to thrive.

  N. Jenny is the choice if you would like almost pure white petals and soft lemon trumpet

 N. Ice Wings for strong stems with three flowers glistening white throughout April.

I started this article with the intention of talking about daffodils only but I am going to digress to another favourite but less frequently seen bulb – Camassia leichtlinii Caerulea.

 This is a delight – tall handsome spikes of rich violet blue, a very decorative profusion of starry flowers in May and June.  These like a partially shaded position and grow vigorously in my woodland garden – there is a white form too but it is not as interesting.  You rarely see Camassia bulbs in Garden Centres so I usually order mine from a bulb merchant – in fact I have some sitting in a box by the back door waiting to be planted about 8cm deep – my job for tomorrow.   

The ground conditions are good for planting, the Garden Centres have the bulbs, the weather is fine – you know your job for the weekend!