I am just putting to rest my second Daffodil. What might I be doing to kill these plants. Both of my plants bloomed nicely but started to die right off. Actually this second one is alive but the stems are turning yellow. Is this normal? They are only about two weeks old.
Daffodils from the grocery store
It may be that you are doing nothing wrong, but you are growing the wrong kinds of daffodils.
Like peonies in the south, you can grow them with success if you pick the right ones. If not, they promptly rot.
Tanzetta daffodils, which are gorgeous, do well in warm climates.
Here are a couple of great sites that I found:
http://www.profilingsolutions.com/FDS/FDS%20Home.htm
http://www.profilingsolutions.com/FDS/FDS%20Planting%20Tips.htm
Thanks for your answer. I can't get to either one of those sites. It is probably my internet provider and nothing wrong with the link. But....These are potted daffodils that I purchased at the grocery store. They have not been outside. Still in the pot.
chill florida they're prolly not dead, just going into the dormant stage of their lifecycle!
Since not many people would buy just a pot of foliage but WILL make an impulse buy of gorgeous blooming daffodila after a llllllooooonnnnng winter, the stores get them to bloom early (prolly by putting gro lights on them in the greenhouse). So blooming daffodils entice unwary shoppers to buy then . . unaware that soon the bloom will fade and the fronds turn yellow: all a natural progession!!
If you put that pot in your shed, garage, other unheated place for the coming winter, then put the pot outside in full sun in Feb . . it'll prolly bloom again (repeat and it'll keep blooopming).
OR
cut off all that yellowing foliage at ground level, dig out that bulb, gently brush off clinging lumps of dirt and put it on a newpaper to dry (in the shade! turning it dailyfor about 3-4 days), then using a dry rag gtently knock off the rest of the dirt. At this time. cut off any roots sticking out and bring it in where it'll dry & cure: put it either in: a paper bag, under the kitchen sinjk OR one of the legs of panyhosew / nylon saock / mesh bag that produce comes in at the grocery stores and, knotting the open end, hang from a hanger in a dark closet. Routinely "disturb: it (turn it, move it in its new "home): if one gets soft & mushy, throw it away before it ruins the others! Then in the fall, plant them in your garden outside *Sept/ Oct.)
Daffodils are a fall-planted bulb, that comes up to bloom in the spring; after blooming, the foliage turns sunlight into energy for seerd production or bukb growth. By the beginning of summmer, the bulb has gone dormant. Daffodils NEED a period of cold in order to bloom again the next year.
So, rest easy, you didn't kill that daffodil: it's just gone to bed for the summer! LOL
Can you not plant t them in the ground somewhere? Northern gardeners can grow a lot more varieties than southerners. But if by any chance you bought/grew paper whites, you can plant in ground and the will return and expand year after year with no additional care from you.
What wonderful responses. Thanks for all of your helpful information!