Hi Daffnetters Last weekend most of the country was affected by a very deep depression from Antarctica which brought snow to areas which rarely see it. My grand niece sent me this photo taken at their farm at Wainuioru, east of Carterton in the Wairarapa. The flowering Tazettas were planted last autumn from a rejected batch thrown out by Wilf Hall – we thought it nicer to plant rather than bin them. Question: Being Tazettas, will these bulbs survive the sudden snow covering followed by this weekend’s warmer temperatures, (14’C) to flower another year? Cheers Margaret Seconi
All Categories
A discussion forum for daffodil enthusiasts around the world.
Hi Margaret, My guess is that the bulbs will be fine. The foliage may be damaged and turn brown, but unless there was prolonged cold to get into the soil to the level of the bulbs, I think they’ll be fine. One year we had a severe cold spell when the bulbs were up, and in bloom. The foliage was killed back to the ground, but after the cold spell the foliage continued to grow. There may have been fewer blooms the following year, but the bulbs survived and recovered to bloom again. Granted they weren’t tazettas, but still, I think they’ll be ok.
Mary Lou
We had snow and below freezing temperatures after flowering had started and all my daffodils looked pretty sad, but they all seemed to bounce back. Of course next season isn’t here yet, but the plants seemed to have an extended flower hold and longer green time so I don’t think there will be problems. Colleen in NE Calif.
When I was first getting started in Daffodils, I had an experienced head tell me after a freeze to spray the daffodils with a fungicide to stop any kind of infection. They had just started to bloom when frozen and I lost most of that years bloom. It turned out that he was correct. The next year they bloomed as if nothing happend. Thank you Bill Lee.
Clay
Margaret: Nice photo! My guess is that her tazettas will be just fine. Mine survive freezes to 23 deg F (-5deg C). Our temperatures also have a strong diurnal variation. Some may even send up a secondary stem this year. Let us all know what happens.
Melissa