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HomeflowersPick more daffodils
March 22, 2010
by F&F
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Here’s a little secret which I’m rather ashamed of: I don’t really like growing daffodils. Oh, I know, I’ve probably offended the entire Welsh nation and every single gardener in the country, but there we go. I love seeing them en masse on banks, sweeping lawns and at the side of the road, but I have never, ever planted common daffs in my garden. I’m sorry.

But if you really want to make me go weak at the knees and rush out to buy an enormous sack of daffodil bulbs, then you can bring me a bouquet of them any day. Because I think daffodils really are one of the best cut flowers you can get.

I was at a friend’s house this weekend, and one of the more thoughtful guests presented the hostess with a bunch of tightly-shut daffodils. As we ate our supper and happily chattered away, we noticed those little buds pulling themselves open and stretching out their petals in the warm room. By the next morning, the flowers were all open and flinging their lovely bright sing-songy colour all over the place.

There’s nothing fresher, or cheerier, than a big bunch of daffodils in a lovely white or willow-pattern vase. In springtime my mother fills her house with them, and they cheer us all up. A clever friend of mine dries her spent blooms and arranges them at the bottom of glass votive candle holders. In the soft candlelight those tissue-paper petals glow gently. Yes, cut daffodils are marvellous.

As you pick more and more daffodils from your garden, feel encouraged: you are ensuring a great display for next year. Removing the flower stalk means the bulb can store more energy rather than spend it all on flowering. Don’t chop back the leaves, as these are the powerhouse of the bulb, and gather all the goodness needed for fat happy flowers next year. But pick as many flowers as you can and place vases of them on every windowsill and surface. Make room for them in your house: they are marvellous cut flowers.

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