How to grow daffodils and the best varieties

Daffodils (narcissus) are one of the most popular spring-flowering bulbs, a joyful herald of the season to come. 

They can add a vibrant splash of colour in a flowerbed, but can also look brilliant in pots and window boxes.

Which? Gardening magazine grew a range of popular varieties to see which would give us the best display.

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Key facts

Plant type Spring-flowering bulbs

Position Sun or partial shade

Soil Well-drained

How to grow daffodils: month by month

Best daffodil varieties

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Full testing results for daffodils

Dwarf daffodils for pots

Daffodils for borders

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Caring for your plants

Planting in pots

Plant bulbs in the autumn in a Best Buy compost for containers. It might be worth adding some grit if you live in an area that has a lot of rain. Plant the bulbs about 10cm deep and space them around one bulb's width.

Deadheading

Remove the faded blooms and let the foliage die back naturally to help the bulb store energy and produce a good show of flowers the following year.

Common growing problems

Narcissus bulb fly

The large narcissus fly lays a single egg at the neck of each bulb and can infect up to 100 bulbs. Bright, still days outdoors, with temperatures above 18°C, and sunny days in greenhouses favour the fly, and most egg-laying occurs under these conditions. The egg-laying period stretches from early May until June. The egg hatches and the larva crawls to the base of the bulb where it tunnels inside. Once inside, it feeds on the fleshy leaves near the growing point. Eventually, a large cavity is produced. In spring, the larva moves into the soil where it pupates. Five or six weeks later, the adult emerges and the cycle begins again.

Bulbs that do not produce any leaves or produce only a few wispy leaves may be infected with large narcissus fly. Sometimes yellow, distorted leaves are produced. If no other obvious condition can be attributed to the poor growth, it will be necessary to dig up the bulb and examine the base. If the bulb has been infected by the large narcissus bulb fly, there will be a small, rusty-coloured hole in the basal plate. Further examination should reveal a hollow bulb, filled with pulpy tissue. If the bulb is inspected before March when the larva leaves the bulb to pupate, then a single maggot will also be visible. Bulbs infested by large narcissus fly can be recognised, when you lift them in late summer, by the entry hole in the base. This can be hard to find, however. The maggot continues to feed in the bulb in storage. It will become softer than sound bulbs, especially at the top.

To help prevent attack, as the foliage of healthy bulbs pushes through the soil surface, the soil becomes disturbed. Narcissus flies lay their eggs between May and June; they are less able to do so on the neck of the bulb if this soil is firmed down as the leaves begin to die off. When dead leaves are removed, rake over the ground to fill any holes left in the soil.Outdoors, susceptible or valuable bulbs can be covered with horticultural fleece or insect-proof mesh during May to prevent female flies from laying their eggs on the bulbs. Make sure they are not already infested or you will be trapping the flies with the bulbs. Always lift and inspect suspect bulbs, discarding any diseased or damaged ones. When you lift bulbs, don’t leave them outdoors, as they are vulnerable to attack by small narcissus flies at this stage. Instead, move them into a shed, or cover with a cloth until it is time to replant them.

All infected bulbs should be dug up as soon as possible and burnt or binned. If in doubt, carefully lift suspect bulbs and examine them thoroughly. Healthy bulbs can be replanted, and you can encourage better growth by feeding with a general-purpose fertiliser as the leaves appear. Regular watering during dry spells will also help.

Lack of daffodil flowers

If you’re buying fresh bulbs, they should flower the following spring. If you have bulbs that have been in a pot or in the ground for some time, they might come up ‘blind’, with foliage but no flowers. Avoid this by deadheading the faded blooms and leaving the foliage to die back naturally without tying it into a knot. Keep your plants watered and fed if they’ve been in the pot for some time as they will lack nutrients.

If the bulbs have been planted for some years, they might be getting crowded. Lift them and replant the larger, healthy bulbs as the small bulbs might take a few years to grow to a size that will produce flowers.

How we test daffodils

We bought around 25 bulbs of 19 different varieties of daffodils and planted them in containers at the Which? Gardening magazine trial garden at Capel Manor in north London. We started assessing the plants from when the first blooms opened in February through to the last flowers in June.