Planting narcissi in late winter

Planting Narcissi in Late Winter

Shade isn't a disadvantage - shade, sun, dry and wet all provide different planting opportunities.

• Sun: we use the scented white Narcissus 'Thalia' in sunny spots.
• Shade: Narcissus moschatus, an ivory-coloured daffodil from the Pyrenees, enjoys cooler conditions. In the White Garden it will later combine with cow parsley and honesty.
• We usually have a main protagonist and then supporting plants.
• In this area the protagonist is Cardiocrinum giganteum (giant Himalayan lily), and the narcissi bring interest each year before the lilies emerge.

Now we'll look at how to plant narcissi to add spring interest to a shadier area of the White Garden and a trick for starting off bulbs if you're not yet sure where to put them.

Starting the Bulbs Off in Pots

If you're not sure where you want your bulbs to go when you buy them in autumn, you can plant them in pots to grow on and then plant them out in early spring. We do this as the borders are too full to be able to plant bulbs in September, when narcissi need to go in. Tulips can wait until December, so spaces have often emerged by then.

• Plant around three bulbs into each small (e.g. 9cm) pot, planting them deep, with at least the bulb's depth of compost on top.
• Leave the pots of bulbs outside, but be careful they don't sit wet and risk rotting - a layer of bark on the top of the pot can absorb some of the wet.
• In spring, plant them into the spaces that have opened up.
• Plant the sprouted bulbs deep, burying the lower part of the leaves, as if they're happy they can last 50 years and keep spreading.
• For perennial bulbs, you don't need to plant loads, as numbers will increase every year.

"Gardening is a journey and process of a garden growing and evolving"

Further Reading

• RHS: How to plant bulbs

Plant Directory

Anthriscus sylvestris

Cow parsley

Hardy, short-lived herbaceous perennial or sometimes biennial

Apiaceae

Cardiocrinum giganteum

Giant Himalayan lily

Hardy bulbous perennial

Liliaceae

Lunaria annua

Honesty

Hardy annual or herbaceous biennial

Brassicaceae

Magnolia species and cultivars

Magnolias

Hardy or half-hardy trees or shrubs

Magnoliaceae

Narcissus moschatus

Swan's neck daffodil

Hardy bulbous perennial

Amaryllidaceae

Narcissus 'Thalia'

Daffodil 'Thalia'

Hardy bulbous perennial

Amaryllidaceae