March Plant of the Month - Daffodil

Along with the robin,

Nothing says “Spring is Here” quite like the Narcissus or daffodil!

As a garden designer, one of my foremost goals is to create a garden where plants bloom 12 months out of the year. I am also very fond of garden dynamics. This occurs when the look and feel of a garden changes from season to season. In order to achieve this effect, one must use plants that ebb and flow through different seasons of the year. Obviously, a knowledge of plant bloom times in your area is a must.

Also, the use of flowering bulbs can help you achieve this effect. Every garden design I create includes flower bulbs and they always include daffodils! These bulbs are among the toughest and most reliable plants I know.

There is nothing more beautiful to me, than to see naturalized daffodils in Spring.

There are all sorts of wonderful varieties out there. Some of my favorite sources for daffodils are Dutch Gardens and White Flower Farm.

Photo by kaycatt

When I plant daffodils in the residential landscape, I always put them in a bed of liriope such as this.

Photo by snjdavis

Or this …

Imagine that beautiful bed of liriope transformed each Spring by the color yellow. It could be sensational!

In this way, the daffodils come up each Spring and completely change the appearance of the bed without compromising the integrity of the design. The foliage of the daffodils and the liriope is similar in size, shape, color and form. Year round, you have a lovely evergreen bed of liriope until the Spring when suddenly, the yellow daffodils transform it into a mass of yellow. Stunning!

Photo by Garry Platt

Another good reason for daffodils is the fact that deer won’t touch them. They are tried and true deer-resistant plants and require little to no maintenance. Now, that’s my kind of plant!

Daffodils should be planted in the garden in Fall. They should be planted in full sun to part shade in well drained soil. The soil should be amended with compost or another organic material and bone meal at the time of planting. Watch this P. Allen Smith Video to learn more about how to plant daffodils.

To learn more about daffodils in general, visit the American Daffodil Society.

Photo by alicemariedesigns

Happy Spring!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – February 15

On the 15th of each month May Dreams Gardens hosts “Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.” She and other Garden Bloggers want to know what’s blooming in our gardens. This should be very interesting as these Bloggers come from around the world. With this post, I’m jumping in! Here is what is blooming in my yard in mid-February in south eastern North Carolina (Zone 8).

This is a Prunus sp. ‘Okame’ or Okame Cherry. It is a small 1-1/2-inch caliper tree and is blooming a month early this year!

Here is a close up of its blossoms:

Can you believe I also saw a honey bee working these flowers in February?! In my part of the world, the Okame Cherrys bloom first, usually in mid-March. After they finish blooming, the Prunus yedoensis (Yoshino Cherrys) bloom, usually around early April. Finally, in early May, the Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’ (Kwanzan Cherrys) bloom. This is perfect and gives us two solid months of flowering cherrys!

When I think of flowering cherry trees I always recall the Cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. They are spectacular!

Did you know that there are roughly 3750 cherry trees planted around the Tidal Basin? Most are Yoshino cherrys. Their peak bloom time varies depending on the year. To see a history of peak bloom times for these trees go Here. In 1912, the trees were given to the United States as a gift of friendship by the people of Japan. First Lady Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted the first two cherry trees on the northern bank of the Tidal Basin. These two original trees are still standing today near the John Paul Jones statue at the south end of 17th Street. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Washington, DC during the Cherry Blossom Festival, do it! It truly is a spectacular sight to see in our nation’s capitol.

Going back to my garden, which seems quite dull next to those Washington, DC cherry trees, I also have Narcissus sp. or daffodils in bloom.

The one on the left looks to me like a large yellow – most likely a ‘Dutch Master.’ The other one, I have no idea about as it was given to me. I also have ‘Ice Follies’ and ‘Sir Winston Churchill’ in other parts of my yard that are not in bloom yet. The Sir Winston Churchill’s are late-blooming with a double flower. I grow them for their wonderful fragrance! Although I have broken my rule here, I normally always plant massings of daffodils in with evergreen Liriope muscari. I normally use either ‘Big Blue’ or ‘Evergreen Giant’ liriope. The leaves of the daffodils are very similar in form and size to the liriope and this adds a wonderful seasonal dimension to the masses of liriope.

So, there you have it. Not a lot of action yet. However, Spring really is just around the corner!