If tulips are spring garden queens, daffodils are court jesters.

These cheerful charmers bring a smile to the most dour post-winter faces. Like many gardeners, I'm burying bulbs, especially daffodils, in anticipation of a dazzling spring show. I'm daft for them. They're a natural form of "exterior illumination," and indoors, can last a week or more. Author A.A. Milne ("Winnie the Pooh") once wrote that "a house with daffodils in it is a house lit up, whether or not the sun be shining outside."

If you haven't looked lately, there are plenty more daffodil varieties available than King Alfred doppelgangers. Breeders have worked overtime to offer gardeners newer, bigger (or smaller) and better daffodils to add more impact to spring gardens.

There are Trumpets, giant and large-cupped ("Gigantic Star," "Fortissimo") and short or small-cupped daffys ("Emerald Light"), miniatures, singles and doubles and Poeticus ("Pheasant's Eye," "Lemon Cooler," "Green Pearl"). We may not recognize the classifications but we love the look of Tazetta ("Geranium," "Minnow," "Early Pearl") and Triandrus ("Thalia," "Silver Chimes," "Akepa") Cyclamineus ("Jack Snipe," "Tete-a-Tete," "Jetfire") and split corona daffodils ("Apricot Whirl," "Palmares," "Garbo"), jonquillas and narcissuses and the unusual bulbocodium hybrids. Some varieties produce a bouquet on each stem, and some daffys are fragrant.

The American Daffodil Society has a complete list of classifications. Colors include all shades of yellow, orange, pink, peach, flame orange and very-nearly red (edging), green and pink.

Plant en masse for effect or in clumps as part of a composition of tulips, crocuses, hyacinths, muscaris and guinea flowers. Mid-to-late blooming daffodils are good foils for Johnny jump-ups, pansies, columbine, alliums and other spring bloomers.

Create a naturalistic landscape. Toss naturalizing bulbs in the lawn and plant them where they land. Remember you can't mow down the foliage until it dies back. Tuck daffys into hosta beds for a pleasant surprise - daffodils bloom as hosta foliage unfurls, and hostas will eventually hide fading daffodil foliage.

Nothing is easier than bulbs to grow. Choose a sunny, well-drained location. Waterlogged soil will rot bulbs. Incorporate compost or peat moss into the soil.

Plant large bulbs 7 to 8 inches deep. Arrange in groups, not rows, for a more pleasing vignette.

Fertilizing after planting is optional; the bulb has all it needs to bloom the first year. Next fall, use a balanced controlled-release bulb food. Let foliage die back naturally to feed the bulbs.

Trumpet: Cup is as long or longer than petals; one bloom per stem

Large-cupped: Cup length measures more than 1/3 of, but less than or equal to petal length; one bloom per stem

Small-cupped: Cup length measures not more than 1/3 of length of petals; one bloom per stem

Doubles: Clustered cup and petals; one or more flowers per stem

Tazetta: Clusters of florets, usually more than three on a stem; broad foliage, very fragrant

Triandrus: Blooms that hang like bells; two or more blooms per stem.

Cyclamineus: Wind-swept appearance; one bloom per stem

Jonquilla: Small flowers with flat petals; one to three blooms on stem; fragrant, narrow, reed-like foliage

Poeticus: Extremely white petals; small crinkled cup, often with green center surrounded by yellow and a red rim; one fragrant bloom per stem

Bulbocodium hybrids: Hoop-skirt or hoop-petticoat form.

Split corona or split-cup: Cups split at usually more than half its length; center petals are usually a different color that outer petals.

Miniatures: Same as standard descriptions, but smaller blooms less than 1 1/2 inches in diameter

There are also species, wild hybrids, variant and natural daffodils.

Source:

American Daffodil Society