Tufts of bright colour 4 to 16 inches tall, opening while the tulips are still bare: narcissus is the flower that marks the end of winter, and it is at its best planted by the dozen in tight clumps. The show lasts barely a fortnight, but leave the leaves to yellow and it returns every spring.
| Name | Narcissus |
|---|---|
| Family | Amaryllidaceae |
| Type | Spring bulb |
| Soil | ordinary |
| Height | 4 to 16 inches (10 to 40 cm) |
| Exposure | full sun and part sun |
| Flowering | Spring |
Many find Narcissus appealing for its cute blooming. Proper planting and care boost blooming, which becomes a joyful event when planted in large clusters.
Narcissus is an easy bulb flower to please, happy in most gardens, but they’ll bloom best in richer soil.
Narcissus bulbs are planted ideally during the months of early autumn, mid-autumn and late autumn.
Space each bulb about 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) from the next and create the clumped spots by planting 10 to 15 bulbs in this tight configuration.
Flower shops are able to offer beautiful potted narcissus in Winter. This is out of the normal blooming cycle: for this to happen, the bulbs are forced. It is possible to “force” narcissus to bloom indoors anytime from fall until the beginning of spring.
Potted narcissus are usually forced indoors during Winter, as described above.
It is difficult to keep them in their pot since they won’t bloom again. To get new flowers, you must plant them outside after flowering.
Note that you can plant narcissus in pot arrangements that stay outdoors all the time. These will naturally respect the flow of seasons. They’ll bloom beautifully when spring arrives, a bit earlier than other bulbs planted in the ground.
The same bulb can be planted in the ground, forced indoors for winter, or grown in pots left outside all year. Each route has its own timing and its own outcome.
| Method | When to start | Where to keep it | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planting in the garden | early autumn, mid-autumn and late autumn | Sun, part sun or shade, 10 to 15 bulbs in a tight clump | Spring flowering, in clustered spots of colour |
| Forcing indoors | early autumn to midwinter | Cool, dark, moist place, then 50 to 60°F (10 to 15°C) in the light | Blooming out of the normal cycle, from fall to early spring |
| Pot arrangements left outdoors | Autumn, as for garden bulbs | Outside all year round | Flowers a bit earlier than bulbs planted in the ground |
| Saving forced pot bulbs | After flowering | Planted out in the garden | May flower again within a year or two, but not guaranteed |
Whichever route you take, the leaves must be left to yellow if the bulb is to flower the following year.
Don’t cut the leaves off your narcissus until they’ve naturally turned yellow. This step is crucial to their lifecycle, it’s when they store nutrients in their bulb for the next blooming season.
If you remove narcissus leaves just after blooming, they won’t have had enough time to build up a reserve of nutrients. They probably won’t bloom again in the following spring.
You can keep watering after the blooming and even add flower plant fertilizer.
Narcissus cultivars differ far more than the catalogue photos suggest, from 6-inch pot miniatures to sturdy trumpets for naturalising in grass. The table below sets out the ones most commonly sold, with the details that decide where each is best planted.
| Variety | Flower | Flowering period | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘late winter Gold’ | Yellow, swept-back petals | Early spring | Naturalising, drifts under shrubs |
| ‘Jetfire’ | Yellow petals, orange cup | Early spring | Pots and edging, sunny spots |
| ‘Thalia’ | Pure white, 2 to 3 per stem | Mid spring | Part shade, white schemes |
| ‘Minnow’ | Cream petals, yellow cup, scented | Mid spring | Pots, gravel, rockeries |
| ‘Actaea’ | White petals, red-rimmed eye, scented | Late spring | Damp grass, extending the season |
| ‘Tête-à-tête’ | Golden yellow, 1 to 3 per stem | Early spring | Pots, window boxes, front of border |
| ‘Ice Follies’ | White petals, flat lemon cup | Mid spring | Naturalising in grass, borders |
All there is to know about narcissus
There is a number of narcissus species and varieties, such as the famous daffodil (Narcissus jonquilla) that enchants our gardens as Winter subsides. Even though the blooming season for Narcissus is rather short (about 15 days), nonetheless you’ll marvel at the tufts of bright color in the garden, while the next Spring flowers, tulips, haven’t yet bloomed.
As the legend goes, narcissus relates to ancient Greek mythology. Narcissus was a handsome young man who brutally rejected the love of the nymph Echo, was punished by the gods and was condemned to loving only himself – hence the word narcissist. Every day, he would contemplate his own image in the reflection of a water fountain.
One day, he even tried to kiss his own image, drowned, and was turned into a flower, the narcissus.
Once the leaves have wilted away, you can cut off those ungainly dry strands, and your narcissus is ready again to bloom in the following year! Don’t mow the patch down before the leaves have dried off completely, though, or they won’t flower again in the next year.
