Good morning
This came in from Charles Moore. Any help you can provide him will be appreciated.
I purchased 5000 King Alfred bulbs to be used in a mass planting in a field next to a salt water bay in honor of area veterans in Eastport, Maine. The Eastport garden club will handle the project. The field has a thick sod which will make planting difficult. Concern has also been raised about salt contamination in the field because of its location. Some folks have raised concern that bulbs they have planted in Eastport past did not bloom the first year. Advice appreciated. Should we plant? How deep? How many per square foot. Size is DN II. Our goal is to eventually plant Daffodils all over Eastport for an impressive spring display. We need some help in getting there. Help appreciated. Thanks
Frank,
to Charles Moore;
Daffodil planting of a coast line can be difficult. We had daffodils at
our beach place on the OBX in North Carolina. The beach place was on the
beach less than 50 yeads from the ocean. The daffodils that were protected
from the direct Nor”Easters wind and rain from the ocean survived and did
well. Otherwards, on the west side of the house protecting the daffodils
from the direct ocean breezes. Across the street about 150 yards away from
the ocean a friend planted daffodils in his yard with direct exposure to
the wind from the ocean, these daffodils came up, bloomed and the second
year produced foliage with no bloom and the third year did not come up.
Dafodils on the west side of his house away from the ocean did well. I also
had daffodils about 75 yards from the ocean behind a driftwood log. With
the log protecting, they are still blooming.
The salt in the ground may be a hindrance to the daffodils, but I mixed
into the soil a little Garden Soil that I purchased from Home Depot. I’d
dig a hole, putting the soil in a wheelbarrow, mix in a little, say enough
to make it half and half, and put that back in the hole on top of the
bulbs. Not sure that it helped but I got nice blooms from it.
I would advise to plant them the normal depth of 8 inches under the soil
and six inches apart. Plant as many as you like in a bunch to include do
area planting.
If the area of the field is within the salt plain of the bay and receives
direct ocean breezes and rain, do not expect great success. However, if
you can plant them on the ocean plain, and they are exposed to the weather
lows that bring counterclockwise rotations of rain and wind in the
winter/spring they will not do well. If they have a little shelter, as on
the western side of buildings or a solid fence, some success can be
expected.
Clay