Daffodil Enthusiasts, Fertilizing, General, Growing Daffodils, Weather and Temperature

How tall does your daffodil grow?

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Nancy Tackett forwarded a query about growing tall daffodils in Chicago, and as I just responded it occurred to me that answers form others about their local climes may be of interest to us all.

The desire was for a daffodil taller than 26 inches, possibly 30 inches. That was to allow a window view, I think.

 

I scanned Daffseek and found over 1800 “Tall” entries, > 67.5 cm or 26.6 inches. Scanning the names only, I found 35 which may be available in the trade. I have grown just about all of them, never getting a stem and bloom to meet the specified criterion. I advised raised beds and elevated pots and shared comments about our climate.

Somewhere I have a photo of daffs that were about a yard tall but on pretty spindly stems. That was from Seattle.

But what is your experience? What are the tallest blooms you get and does that happen every year?  How would you have answered the query?

4 comments for “How tall does your daffodil grow?”

  1. Avalanche, Cheerfulness and Grand Monarque grow that tall in a shady position.

    Dave

  2. George, I’m not sure I’ve grown any that were 26-30 inches tall, but in a cool, wet season the stems grow taller.  Many knee-high or more.  ‘Lancaster’ and ‘Stratosphere’ are tallish to begin with, and ‘Cavalryman’ gets pretty tall, so they might do well in Chicago. These are later bloomers, so that could make a difference, too.

    Mary Lou

  3. Hi George,

    In Canberra there are significant varietal differences. This year has been average-ish, which means less rain than a lot of places. Good stems in the field here are about 40cm. I have an exceptional seedling that is about 50cm. It would take more rain, less frost and more shelter to obtain stems longer than this here.

    Lawrence

  4. George, this is of no help in your climate but when Willis Wheeler moved to Florida (before John and Linda Beck discovered that Sunshine State) he wrote in the Daffodil Journal that his better  older tazettas grew on stems 40 inches high. I don’t believe they would stay tall and sturdy in windy weather, anyhow.  I like your suggestions about raised beds or pots, as much more sensible. And the  pots would allow changing out the bulbs as they bloomed out, if they’d originally been grown in black plastic pots to slip ito an attractive container.

    Loyce McKenzie, Madison, MS  Zone 8a

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