It's Daffodil Time Again

 The jug has a parrot for a handle.
Daffodils in New Jug

It's daffodil time again. How wonderful - I can join in Daffodil Planter's flowery festival. Spring gardeners in the northern hemisphere should have their daffodils up and blooming by now - lucky things!

I'm an autumn gardener in New Zealand, which is almost as far south as anyone would want to get! So I'm six months late (or early, depending on your point of view), and just getting ready to plant new bulbs.

This is an activity fraught with danger for the old ones. It's likely that all those perfect bare spots I can see will already contain little bulb colonies I've forgotten about. A map with hidden treasures marked with an 'X' would be so sensible at this time. A spade or a hand digger can do considerable damage...

Recycled Daffodils

This year I've decided to be thrifty, and stay true to my recycling ideals. So first of all I've bought some budget boxes of very mixed daffodils, dug out of someone else's garden. They were no longer needed, poor things. Then I've compulsively rescued another anonymous lot from the bulldozer and the landfill dump. What a champion!

 Lovely bright yellows.
More Daffodils

All those bulb catalogues which tempt me with specific colours and petal styles have been popped securely away. These are not for my future reference, not this year anyway. I'm far too full of missionary zeal...

And so I don't know what to expect from these new daffodils in six months time, when my spring season finally rolls around. I can peer at the bulb shape and size all I like, but I've never heard of a means of bulb identification.

 I planted these last autumn.
Miniature Daffodils

No Trumpets, Please!

Aargh! I may have loads of glaring yellow trumpets which flop at the first puff of wind. So unsubtle, and so unsuitable - no yellow trumpets, please.

And No Nerines...

And what if all the bigger bulbs are actually silly pink Nerines? Another loud aargh! There are quite enough naked ladies in my garden, thank you very much. What would the neighbours (and the search engines) think?

Having boxes of unknowns bulbs is actually quite exciting. You see, there may be all sorts of delicate daffodil treasures in there, like those beautiful apricot miniatures I mail-ordered in last year. Also I'd really like some Hoop Petticoats, and maybe some Poeticus - such an evocative name.

And perhaps there'll be some of those fragrant early bloomers we call Erlicheer - now they'd be wonderful planted by the house decking. And I'm sure I have the perfect spot for some clumps of Cyclamineus. I could even encourage them to naturalise...

Back to the Catalogue...

It is painfully obvious where all this is all leading - right back to that latest bulb catalogue which I've carefully hidden out of sight! Naughty!

Footnote

Daffodil Planter is my friend from California who successfully organises me to get writing, out of season, for her Daffodil Blogarama. She's a legend! Check out her blog - you'll love it.