Or anyone who’s in seriously a hot dry climate…
I get the Florida Daffodil Society web site general email questions, so end up fielding questions from snowbirds/transplants that want to grow daffs in places daffs don’t necessarily want to grow without some reasoned forethought…
The latest one is from someone who’s in a place that’s about as year-round warm as can be found in Florida, short of the keys. (problem is it’s hot and wet year round, so rot is a given)
Question for you year-round warm weather folks: if you lift&store your bulbs annually, do you pre-chill annually too -? Or, just the first time -? And if so, for how long? I got an newsletter from Bob Spotts year or so ago, but cannot recall if he repeat chills or not (nor for how long)~
Pushing the envelope even further: I think they may be able to grow fall bloomers, assuming they have a garage to store the bulbs in pots in a bone dry condition over the summer… Would any of the viridiflorus hybrids (that look more like standards) survive the same kind of treatment? I realize they’re not on the commercial market so really not a viable consideration for joe q. public, but I’m really curious to know if anyone’s had experiences… If enough viridiflorus genes maybe they don’t have the same cold hour requirements, so could make a go of it… ???
Thoughts/pointers most welcomed…
-s
Hi Sara,
I hesitated to respond, because what I do and what I think I should be doing are different.
When I get new bulbs, I routinely chill them. If from Oregon or Holland – about a month. From Northern Ireland or Michigan – about six weeks. This brings their growth into February and March, the growing season for daffodils here in Oakley – instead of April, which is when they grew at their previous home.
I grow most of my daffodils other than my seedlings in containers. Though I try not to purchase late-season varieties, I do have a few. The new bulbs get chilled before planting (as described above). But I should chill the late varieties each year – but I have not been doing this (with one exception). This year, perhaps I will. John Pearson’s exquisite white 2W-W ‘Bob Spotts’ is a late-season cultivar that I grow – or try to grow. By chilling new bulbs in the fall for at least six weeks, I can get it to bloom for our late-season show at Fortuna. Without additional chill the next Fall, it grows/blooms very late – too late for a show and more importantly, its growth after blooming is curtailed by April heat – and the bulbs dwindle and are lost after another year.
This past fall, I did chill the pot of ‘Bob Spotts’ in an effort to keep it. The growing period was advanced satisfactorily, but the size of blooms was small – not surprisingly. I haven’t checked the pot to see if the bulbs look sound – or whether they still exist!
Most of my viridiflorus progeny that are winter bloomers – are grown in the ground and lifted every three years. While out of the ground, they are stored (baked?) in the garage during the summer. They get replanted in late October. (N.viridiflorus blooms here in early October – or ten days after I soak the patch.) I do grow some in containers (because of not having enough ground space). The containers are taken from the garage and placed outside in October. I water them then, because our rainy season is yet a month away.
I should think anyone can grow the viridiflorus hybrids in containers if they’ll store them in a dry place during the summer.
‘Mesa Verde’ has done well outdoors in the Northeast USA – it can stand winter cold and seems to adapt to moist summer. It is two generations from the species and grows in mid-spring. It was the result fro successive crosses with late-season cultivars and apparently has a “normal” chill requirement. The seedlings being created by Harold Koopowitz in Southern California are truly fall/winter bloomers and might be better suited to growing in Florida.
Thanks for the thought-provoking posting.
Bob
At 12:09 PM 7/10/2012, you wrote: