She really is the best!

Yes, it couldn't be better. Almost all flower bulbs have suffered from the capriciousness of Mother Nature last year, but this sturdy, steadfast flower bulb not at all. The Tulip, the Hyacinth. The Allium, the Crocus and so on, they all show a moderate harvest here and there and in some cases even a very disappointing harvest. What a topper she is.

The Daffodils are drying in the field. Sun-dried Daffodils

For those who are now thinking what is Carlos talking about, the Narcissus of course. My favorite bulb the Narcissus shows once again that when things get a bit more difficult you can always count on her. She does not whine about the weather of it is too wet, it is too cold or too dry or too dark. Are you crazy, the Narcissus grits its horse teeth and rain or shine, she just keeps growing. 'Horse teeth' in Daffodil bulbs. Yes, they really exist. It is a growth disorder that some species of Daffodils occasionally show.

Also nice for us, especially for me, I can sell a lot of my favorite bulbs. In contrast to most other flower bulbs, there are enough Daffodils. Are things really that bad with all those other flower bulbs, you may wonder. Yes, historically bad. We have never experienced it as bad as this year. Even the old men from the flower bulb world confirm this wholeheartedly. I have to be a bit careful with what I say now because I know for sure that many daughters and sons of flower bulb boys and girls my age will also think I am an old man without batting an eyelid with the inevitable dull stories from the old box. But, fortunately there are still many people in the flower bulb world that I look up to who are old men in my eyes.

By the way, I have been forgetting to show you the harvested Narcissus seeds for over a month. Super harvest, many crosses were successful. That makes you happy, in 5 years we will know what they look like, 😊  

Coming back to the harvest, yes it is really sad how often the mark is missed when it comes to the numbers sold. Dropouts of around half the expected number are more the rule than the exception for many flower bulb growers. Difficult for us, our stock is getting smaller on the website and also difficult for our foreign customers with a flower bulb web shop to which we have sold bulbs. They too will have less to sell and will have less turnover. But of course it is the worst for all those flower bulb growers, they are really stuck with the consequences. For many of them the proceeds will not be sufficient to cover the costs. This does happen more often, by the way, there are always the fat and the lean years but usually the lean years were caused by market forces. Little or somewhat less demand for flower bulbs in a year with a good harvest...overproduction with the result of low prices. But in such years you as a grower have more than enough plant material to harvest good and sufficient bulbs again the following year. Now things are different, with such a moderate harvest the planting material will also be much less and there will be many growers who are scratching their heads with the necessary doubts about next year.

A show-off. Grown very well though.

Enough pooping, quickly back to the Narcissus. That unyielding buffalo of a flower bulb that has grown so well this year that it lies shining in the field. After all, narcissi are left in the field for a day or so after being dug up to let them dry properly. They emerge from the ground with a large tuft of roots that usually still contain a lot of sand. By exposing the bulbs to the elements, the roots quickly wither, the sand rolls off and when they are properly dry, they are dug up in the crates and taken to the barn to be sorted, counted and delivered. The harvesting of miniature daffodils is different from the coarse daffodils. They are collected behind the harvester in mesh bins where they can also dry well.

Most of our Daffodils are now also in the field, next week we will bring them in and process them. The miniature Daffodils, which usually die off a bit earlier, are already in the shed and the first bulbs for the Fluwel Specialty Daffodil site have already been counted out. Miniature daffodil Camborne…in the wetter places in the country we dug up more clumps than bulbs. Shall we also put a few clumps in the bags of daffodils that we sold 😊 we have plenty of clumps.

With all this positivity about the Narcissus you have certainly become enthusiastic and you may also want to plant a Narcissus. We have something for everyone because tastes differ but if you want to plant Narcissus that will come back for years and will be guaranteed to naturalize well I would recommend the following Narcissus: Brackenhurst,

a good Narcissus that excels by its rich flowering. About twenty years ago we planted a collection of over 1500 different Narcissus that we did not dig up for 7 years. Brackenhurst was one of the standouts, after all that time still a sea of ​​flowers with a bright color.

Actaea.

how time flies, I've been living in the same spot for 33 years. From the first year I've lived there, these Actaea's have been blooming, beautiful every spring.

Carlton,

I have shown this photo before in a news blog a year or so ago but they are still there. Especially now that the mowing policy for the roadside verges has been adjusted to give native plants the chance to sow themselves, the Daffodils have really come to their own. Previously, they were sometimes mowed a bit too early with still green leaves but today they can grow wonderfully and are only doing better and better in the roadside verges.

There may be Daffodils with more beautiful flowers but the varieties above have shown me twice over that they are excellent for the ditch bank, the roadside or other neglected pieces of property. As long as they are in reasonable soil and have half a day in full sun they are virtually indestructible.

Breath of Spring,

I can't say for sure, this Daffodil isn't that old yet and it hasn't been planted much, but from a bulb left behind in our front garden from about 6 years ago, a beautiful tuft has already formed that brings a lovely spring breeze every spring.

Above are a number of species that I know will grow back above average, but I am actually doing a lot of Daffodils a disservice here. Really, in reasonably airy and good soil where they are in the sun for at least half a day, almost every Daffodil will naturalize well. Some Daffodils like a drier, sunnier and warmer spot in the garden, but if that is the case, I always mention that in the description. Time to stop again.

Kind regards,

Carlos van der Veek