Wild daffodil

Daffodil bulbs stay in the ground permanently: no digging up, no winter protection needed. After flowering, let the foliage die back and turn yellow completely before you cut it off; bulbs kept in pots you put somewhere frost-protected.

The easiest way to propagate daffodils is by offset bulbs (daughter bulbs). Wait until the foliage has died back completely and turned yellow, June/July at the earliest. Then lift the bulbs carefully from the ground with a digging fork and gently separate the daughter bulbs from the mother bulb. Larger daughter bulbs you can plant straight away in their new spot; smaller offsets are better grown on first in a container or a sheltered bed until they are ready to flower (this takes one to two more years). The dug-up bulbs can be kept dry and cool until planting time in autumn. They are planted from September to October, about 10 to 15 cm deep and with twice the bulb diameter between them. By regularly lifting and separating them every five to ten years, you also boost the flowering performance of the stand, because clumps that are too dense produce smaller flowers.

Sowing is in principle possible for the wild species Narcissus pseudonarcissus, but very protracted: ripe seeds are harvested fresh in summer, as soon as the seed capsules turn brownish, and are best sown promptly. Daffodils are cold-stratification seeds; the seeds need a cold period (stratification), which you use quite naturally by sowing outdoors in autumn; after the cold they usually germinate within a few weeks. Five to seven years generally pass until the first flowering, during which the seedlings initially form only foliage. This method is mainly suitable if you want to naturalise wild types or have no offset bulbs. For garden varieties and cultivars, sowing does not come true to the cultivar and is therefore not recommended.