Summer's Worst Job - Digging Daffodils
In most places in the Northern Hemisphere, it's probably been six weeks or more since your daffodils finished blooming, and so it's safe to either pull off the dried foliage, or dig bulbs. This can be an unpleasant chore in hot, humid weather, but it is also fun to see what kind of increase you've gotten from that "special" bulb you splurged on several years ago. Of course, you don't have to dig daffodils every year. You only have to dig them when they become crowded and fail to bloom, or if you want to change their location.
I like to dig the bulbs when the foliage is still yellow, so that I can see the location of the bulbs. If you wait until the foliage has dried, it's much harder to find the bulbs. If you're digging a lot of bulbs, be sure to keep the different cultivars separated, either for storage, or for replanting.
And that brings up the question: when should you replant bulbs you've dug? I think daffodils are much hardier than most people give them credit for, and so I think you can plant them any time you choose. I've even dug them "green" and moved them to other locations in my garden. It didn't seem to hurt them. One year, when I was moving my garden, I had to dig all my bulbs by May 15. Many still had blooms and green foliage. The bulbs were stored under the deck of the house and stayed there until fall. That gave me the summer months to prepare a garden, as the new location had no garden. It was surprising how many bloomed the following spring. So there is no "right" time to replant the bulbs. Well, all right, do plant them before the ground freezes so they have time to make adequate root growth.
I have a friend in the panhandle area of Florida who says, "Daffodil bulbs belong in the ground, not on the garage floor." If I lived in Florida, I'd follow his advice. He successfully grows hundreds of daffodils.
If you like, you can replant the bulbs immediately. After you've dug all the bulbs of the cultivar, select the largest bulbs to plant back. First, replenish the soil with some compost or fertilizer. Mix this in well with the soil in the bottom of the hole. Then put the largest bulbs back. Either give the small offshoots away, or plant them in an out of the way place until they're big enough to bloom. Don't break off the side shoots unless you can see daylight between the two bulbs attached to the same basal plate.
I've finished digging my bulbs for this year, but I'll have to do some more digging-bed preparation-in August or early September. Then the bed will be ready for planting when the soil cools. I plan to incorporate some mushroom compost and some "fine pine" mulch into the soil to loosen my heavy clay. I'll also work in some low nitrogen fertilizer, and maybe some gypsum. I've heard some people say gypsum breaks down the clay, and others say it doesn't. After the area is planted, I'll lay a soaker hose over the bed, and cover the whole thing with mulch. Then if I need to water, I can just connect my hose to the end of the soaker hose.
I wait until fall to replant, because that's more convenient for me. That way, I can plant some of my new special acquisitions, of which I've only bought one bulb, in between others which have increased to a nice garden clump. I store my bulbs in net bags on the garage floor over the summer. I save the bags onions and potatoes come in. One year, when I moved, I asked in the supermarket produce section if I could buy some bags. They thought I was crazy, but they did sell me some bags. You can use paper bags. Just don't pile the bulbs on top of each other. They need air so they remain dry. Remember, hot and moist leads to rot. Some people wash the bulbs immediately after digging. If you do, be sure to let them dry before storage. I don't. I simply bag the bulbs; then after several weeks, when the bulbs have dried off, I rub any excess dirt off the bulbs. If I have promised bulbs to anyone, I bag them at that time. Then when I plant the bulbs, I check again to make sure the bulbs are firm. Any soft bulbs are inspected for rot, or for evidence that a bulb fly larva has made its home in the bulb. Suspect bulbs are discarded.
One last thing-be sure to stop and sit in the shade with a glass of lemonade now and then.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/daffodils/21971
