Spring Garden

Division 1: Trumpet — Solitary flowers with trumpets or cups as large or larger than the petals of the flower.

Division 2: Large-cupped — Solitary flowers with a short, large cup.

Division 3: Small-cupped — Solitary flowers with a small, short cup.

Division 4: Double — Stems have one or more flowers and a doubling or more of the cup.

Division 5: Triandrus — Stems have 2 to 6 flowers, usually short cups, and the petals are reflexed, or reversed.

Division 6: Cyclamineus — Solitary flower with it’s stem angled downward, as well as reflexed petals.

Division 7: Jonquilla — Stems have 1 to 5 flowers with very small cups.

Division 8: Tazetta — Small-flowered Tazetta division can have up to 20 flowers per stem, larger ones have only 3 or 4. They have small cups.

Division 9: Poeticus — Solitary flower with pure white petals and a tiny, red-ringed cup.

Division 10: Bulbocodium — Includeds all wild daffodils and their wild hybrids.

Division 11: Split-corona — Usually solitary flowers with a split corona, or cup.

Division 12: Miscellaneous — Includes all daffodils not in other divisions.

Division 13: Daffodils distinguished by their botanical name only.

How many kinds of daffodils are there?

Depending on  which botanist you talk to, there are between 40 and 200 different daffodil species, subspecies or varieties of species and over 25,000 registered cultivars (named hybrids) divided among the thirteen divisions of the official classification system.

Will squirrels and other rodents eat daffodil bulbs?

No. The bulbs and leaves contain poisonous crystals which only certain insects can eat with impunity. They may, however, dig up the bulbs.

Are daffodils expensive?

Bulbs are priced from around $1.00 up to about $100, depending on the newness or scarcity of a cultivar and not necessarily on its desirability. There are many prize-winning exhibition cultivars that can be bought for under $2.50. Cultivars for naturalizing cost even less, but mixtures of unnamed cultivars are not recommended.

How long do daffodil bulbs last?

Under good growing conditions, they should outlast any of us. While some kinds of bulbs tend to dwindle and die out, daffodils should increase.

How do daffodils multiply?

Daffodils multiply in two ways: asexual cloning (bulb division) where exact copies of the flower will result, and sexually (from seed) where new, different flowers will result.

Seeds develop in the seed pod (ovary), the swelling just behind the flower petals. Most often, after bloom the seed pod swells but it is empty of seed. Occasionally, wind or insects can pollinate the flower during bloom by bringing new pollen from another flower. When this happens, the seed pod will contain one or a few seeds.

Daffodil hybridizers pollinate flowers by brushing pollen from one flower onto the stigma of another. Then the resulting seed pod can contain up to 25 seeds. Each of these will produce an entirely new plant - but the wait for a bloom for a plant grown from seed is about 5 years!

How long is the flowering season of daffodils?

From six weeks to six months, depending on where you live and the cultivars you grow.  After blooming, let the daffodil plant rebuild its bulb for the next year. The leaves stay green while this is happening. When the leaves begin to yellow, then you can cut the leaves off but not before.

What are miniature daffodils?

Daffodils come in all sizes from 5-inch blooms on 2-foot stems to half-inch flowers on 2-inch stems.

Are daffodils difficult to grow?

No. They are probably the easiest and most dependable of all the families of flowers and ideal for a beginner in gardening in most regions of the United States.

Can daffodils be grown throughout the United States?

Daffodils are quite tolerant of cold, especially with a covering of snow, and are grown to the Canadian border. The only exceptions are a few tender cultivars, usually tazettas, such as the popular Paper White. Daffodils can also be grown throughout the South with the exception of parts of Florida which are free of frost. A cold treatment—natural or induced—is needed for flower bud initiation. Along a narrow band adjoining the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Texas there are certain types and named cultivars which have been found to do better than others.

Will daffodils grow in the shade?

They will grow in the shade of deciduous trees because they have finished flowering and the foliage has begun to mature by the time deciduous trees leaf out. However, it is better to grow them outside the drip line of deciduous trees rather than under them. Also, deciduous trees with tap roots are preferable to shallow-rooted trees. Daffodils will not long survive under evergreen trees and shrubs.

Do ground covers have an adverse effect on daffodils?

The two will be competing for nutrients and moisture, so the answer depends on the fertility of the soil and the aggressiveness of the ground cover. Vigorous, tall-growing, and deeply rooting plants, such as pachysandra and ivy, are likely to discourage daffodils, but they will usually do well in the company of shallow-rooted, trailing plants, such as myrtle, foamflower or creeping phlox.

In Greek mythology Iris is the Goddess of the rainbow and is the messenger of the Gods. The Greeks planted irises on women's graves in hop that the Goddess Iris would guide their souls to their final resting places.

In the ancient world the iris was a symbol of power and majesty used as the original scepter. The oldest iris symbolism comes from Egypt where the iris was a symbol for life.

The fleur-de-lis is a royal French symbol of the iris.

The artist Vincent van Gogh painted some very famous pictures of irises.

The rhizome root of the iris is called orris root and was used as perfumes, deodorants, and medicines in the ancient world.

In this day and age orris root powder is most commonly used for perfumes, potpourri, soaps, spice wreaths, and sachets.

Orris root is an ingredient in Bombay Sapphire Gin that is distributed by Bacardi.

Orris root is said to have magical properties. Orris root is used in Wicca for love spells, divination, and dream work. It is thought that if you carry a piece of orris root with you, you can attract a new lover. Or you can sprinkle the powdered root onto your bed sheets for the same purpose.

Snow Maiden, Pirate Prince, Gypsy Caravan, Super Ego, White Swirl, and Tarheel Elf are just a few of the interesting names of hybrid irises.

The American Iris Society (AIS) was founded in 1920.

There are numerous other iris societies like The Iris Society of Australia, The Italian Iris Society, The Russian Iris Society, New Zealand Iris Society, and The Society for Pacific Coast Native Irises.

The irises three main petals are symbolic for faith, valor, and wisdom.

Dealing with Iris Pest Problems

The bearded Iris is a much loved garden plant, but it comes with some nasty problems that appear in mid to late Summer. The most common trouble is a one-two punch delivered by first an insect, and then a subsequent bacterial infection. Here's some ways to spot the infestation and deal with it.

Bearded Iris grow from a fleshy underground stem known as a rhizome. Unfortunately, this is quite tasty to the Iris borer, an insect which begins the cycle of destruction.  The female Iris borer lays its eggs in old Iris leaves in August and September. At this time in its life cycle, it's an ordinary looking brown moth which is nocturnal and not usually seen.

The eggs overwinter in the Iris debris and hatch in the Spring. As the new, growing leaves go up, so do the little caterpillars inside. As they mature, they begin to eat their way down the leaf. You might see long slits in the leaves caused by these worms. It looks as if a cat scratched the leaves. After a few weeks, the leaf tips look brown and some leaves die.

Around July, the Iris borers have worked their way down to the rhizome and by this time they are about two inches long and pinkish tan. This is only the first half of the Iris dilemma, because at this stage, bacterial soft rot attacks. Just like with humans and animals, an injured plant is prone to infections which compound the difficulty.

Bacterial soft rot causes the leaves to look water soaked and mushy, Often they collapse and become a stinky mess. The rotten smell is a tell-tale sign of bacterial soft rot in Irises. To deal with this disease and the borers both at once, dig the entire Iris plant up and shake the dirt off the rhizomes. Examine the rhizome for visible rotten spots and cut them off. Small tunnels may be visible.

Soak the whole rhizome is a container of 10% laundry bleach to 90% water. Let them sit in this solution for about an hour. This should drive out the caterpillars and kill the bacteria. Cut the leaves back to 4"-5" in length. Let the rhizome dry, and for insurance, dust it with garden sulfur. Replant them, keeping the rhizome high in well drained soil to guard against bacterial soft rot in the future.

Yes, this sounds like a lot of work and trouble, but sooner or later, most bearded Iris growers have to contend with Iris borers. I would rarely recommend dangerous insecticides, and here they could really be misused. They're only effective during a very narrow window of the caterpillar's life cycle, in early Spring, when the leaves are about 5"-6" tall. Application at any other stage is simply a waste of money and a needless, ineffective use of poisons.

There are solutions to the Iris borer problems. Many gardeners have switched to planting Siberian or Japanese Iris, which are far less susceptible. Careful Fall clean up of all old leaves destroys the next season's crop of Iris borers. The female will be done laying eggs by the first hard frost.

Organic garden supply sources sell beneficial nematodes, tiny microscopic worms, which are the natural enemy of Iris borers. Don't worry, they're not creepy to use; they simply look like a dust, or sometimes are sold on a moist sponge. They must be applied in two applications, a week apart in early Spring before the Iris flowers. The nematodes need moist conditions to survive and will quickly build up a population to attack the caterpillars