Daffodils and Narcissus

A mix of daffodils, including the split-corolla variety Cassata at upper left

All daffodils are narcissus - let's get that straight first thing. Daffodil is the common name for the bright yellow flowers we all know. Narcissus is the scientific name for the entire genus that includes daffodils, paperwhites and many beautiful but less familiar types. In floristry, the term "heirloom narcissus" is sometimes used to indicate species that are rarer than the common all-yellow daffodils. But in my book you could use either name for any of these related flowers, and at Tiny Footprint Flowers we call them all "daffs." 

In this blog post I'm simply giving you photos and a list of wonderful varieties, but if you want a deeper dive into daffodils, I can recommend an old but useful book, Daffodils for American Gardens by Brent and Becky Heath, who run Brent and Becky's Daffodils. Here are our favorite varieties, in approximate order of bloom time:

Avalanche       Fragrant, stately spikes with multiple small flowers on each one, ivory with yellow center. In my Northern California garden, Avalanche blooms in January and naturalizes easily; in fact, I think it crowds out other daffodil varieties, so I keep most of mine in pots.

Brackenhurst   Eye-popping color! Bright yellow perianth, bright orange cup.

Ice Follies       Ivory perianth; the cup starts out lemony yellow then fades to ivory as it ages. The cup is frilly and slightly flattened. Naturalizes well in our region.

Tete-a-Tete     Bright yellow, a tiny gem of a flower!

Cassata            A split-cup variety - you may not recognize it as a daffodil but there are many like this. Beautiful, but doesn't last well in the vase; I grow it because I like it so much.

Hawera            The tiniest of flowers - cuter than you can imagine but hard to source.

Pippit              Small, fragrant, 2-4 flowers per stem. A charmer.

Minnow     Similar to Avalanche but flowers are smaller - cute as a bug!     

Golden Salome   Beautiful and reliable

Avalon            An elegant pale yellow daffodil - one of my favorites.

Thalia              My favorite of all daffodils. All white, or maybe a tinge of lemon cream when it first opens. Fragrant.

Daffs in the garden or freshly picked

Tiny Minnow flowers with a white anemone to show relative size

Yes, those white fluffy flowers are daffodils, variety Sir Winston Churchill. They combine well with ranunculus, but soak the daff stems first so get out the sap.

Sir Winston Churchill Multiple frilly blooms on one stem. Late to bloom, very beautiful  

Geranium        The parent of Sir Winston, it has multiple blooms per stem but each one is a single, bright salmon color. Sometimes a few plants in a group of Sir Winston will revert to this form, but luckily it's just as lovely as Sir Winston.

Flower Parade  A striking double variety

Tahiti              Double flowers with bright orange mixed in the center petals

Yellow Cheerfulness Delicate flowers of pale yellow, several blooms per stem, late in the season

Delnashaugh   A beautiful double variety

Daffodils are wonderful in a bouquet, but they ooze some sap after you cut them, and this can cause other flowers to wilt faster. To avoid this, cut your daffs and let them soak in water or flower food for a few hours, then use fresh water or flower food to make your arrangement.

 How to find bulbs for these varieties? You need to order early; most suppliers take orders in spring and summer, then ship bulbs in fall. I recommend both Colorblends and Brent and Becky's. Order early to get the best selection because bulbs often sell out and you may not see these varieties in your local nursery.