Daffodils are widely known as the flower of spring. The plants produce one of the first blooms in spring and certainly the most noticeable in spring. When the daffodil bloom, you know spring has arrived.
Daffodils are of the narcissus genus and are flowering perennial plants of the amaryllis family. The flower has various common names, including daffodil, March lily, narcissus, and jonquil. There are many sizes, shapes, and bloom colors within the over 10,000 different daffodil varieties. This pretty flower comes with a variety of meaning and symbolism too, so gifting it to someone you like brings intentionality to the gift.
Photo by Anita Sue
You can’t go wrong by planting these spring-flowering bulbs in an outdoor flower bed or container, and with all the various types to choose from, one will be perfect for your garden. Read on to discover 9 of the best daffodils to grow.
1. Trumpet
Trumpet varieties have fused coronas that are longer than the petals. The corona is the ring of outer petals that surrounds the cup-shaped center (trumpet). There are two varieties within the trumpet style known as large cupped or small cupped.
2. Doubles
The trumpet variety also includes single and double petals and single or double coronas.
One or the other (sometimes both) must be doubled on the flower to fit into the doubles category.
Photo by Christopher Martyn
3. Triandrus
Triandrus daffodils will produce at least two blooms per stem. The blooms can be single or double, they may face upwards towards the sun or hang like a pendulum, and they can be yellow or white.
4. Fragrant Daffodils
Some daffodil varieties emit a delightful fragrance that fills the spring air.
* Tazetta has fragrant clusters of at least 4 to 20 flowers on each stem.
* Poeticus has one sweet-scented flower per stem with large white petals and a petite brightly colored corona.
* Jonquilla produces fragrant flowers that appear in clusters of 1 to 5 on each stem.
* Pheasant’s Eye daffodils bloom in late spring and have tiny red-rimmed cups and large white petals.
* Bulbocodiums, also known as ‘hoop’ or ‘petticoat’ daffodils, produce glistening white or yellow fragrant flowers. Some varieties produce both colors of blooms on the same plant and have attractive grass-like foliage.
* Most of the varieties that have a pale pink cup will be fragrant.
Photo by Mat Reding
5. Split Coronas
Split corona varieties have a corona that is not fused and appears as another ring of petals. The cups are divided, creating an open face bloom instead of the typical trumpet shape. The blooms are large and face upwards, making this variety the showiest for mass plantings in the garden and use in bouquets.
6. Large Cup
This variety of daffodils is long-lasting, easy to grow, and makes ideal cut flowers. Large cup varieties are suitable for every possible use: bedding, cutting, naturalizing, forcing, and showing. Large cup varieties come in several bloom colors. All large-cupped daffodils produce one flower per stem with two or more stems per bulb.
Photo by Yoksel 🌿 Zok
7. Small Cup
What these lack in size, they make up in bright-colored blooms. The brilliant colors characterize this variety of long-lived perennials. Perfect for naturalizing, with each stem producing a single flower.
8. Miniature Daffodils
Lovely daffodil flowers come in a miniature size of 6 inches or shorter. This variety is perfect for rock gardens, the front of the border of a flower bed, small spaces between tree roots, and for forcing. It is ideal for growing in patio containers and filling flowers in a floral arrangement.
9. Multiple Bloom Colors
In addition to various bloom styles and plant heights, daffodils also come in several bloom colors. Yellow is the most well-known, but there are white, cream, orange, pink, striped, and bi-colored blooms too.
