How I Choose My Fall Bulbs, Starting with Daffodils
- Bridget Wilson
- Jul 20
- 3 min read
How I Choose My Fall Bulbs, Starting with Daffodils
A year of collecting, and the easiest place for any gardener to begin.
I spend most of the year thinking about bulbs. I research and read about the new varieties coming to the US, I trial them in my own beds, and I talk to growers I trust to track down the ones that are hard to find. I pull different varieties from all over the world, and I only keep the ones that earn their place. Gathered for Autumn is the result of all of that work. It is the collection I have put together this year, and it ships in October, ready to go straight into the ground.
People often tell me the hardest part is choosing. There are so many good options that it starts to feel like a test you might fail. It is not. So I am going to walk you through it, one bulb at a time. By the end, you will know how to build a spring garden that unfolds over months instead of peaking for a week and going quiet.
We are starting with daffodils, and there is a good reason for that.
Why daffodils first?
Daffodils are the easiest place to begin. Every one of them comes back year after year, they multiply on their own, and the deer and voles leave them alone. If you plant nothing else this fall, plant these.
Here is how I choose mine.
Start with color. Look at the full range and pick two or three that work together rather than one of everything. An all-white planting is a beautiful place to begin, and it never looks busy. This year, I also have lots of lovely white and peach daffodils, which are my personal favorites. Pink Charm, British Gamble, and Pink Wonder are all soft and romantic, and they are the ones I reach for first.
Pick a naturalizer for lawns and grass. Thalia and Recurvus are my favorites for this. Their leaves are finer and more delicate, so they look completely natural coming up through a lawn or long grass. Thalia is a nodding white, and Recurvus is the old Pheasant's Eye with a white petal and a small red rimmed cup.
Add a double to enjoy up close and in the vase. Popeye, Petit Four, Art Design, and Art Perfume are beyond pretty. They are filled with layer upon layer of petals, and they are the ones I cut and bring inside.
Add one for scent. If you want fragrance, choose Bridal Crown. It is the sweetest-smelling daffodil I grow, and a few stems will perfume a whole room.
The mistake I wish someone had warned me about
Now for the part I wish someone had told me. Think carefully about where you plant them. I am not a fan of daffodils in a flower bed, and I learned that the hard way. Once they finish blooming, you have to leave the foliage in place so it can feed the bulb for next year, and all of that fading, floppy foliage looks messy right when the rest of the bed is waking up. I regretted it every single spring.
Here is what does work. I have one bed in the dappled shade under a tree at the front of my house. I planted a thousand daffodils there, all extras from our sales. They come up in a mass of bloom in early spring, and just as they finish, the ostrich ferns unfurl and cover the tired leaves completely. One planting hands off to the next. That is what I mean by a succession of planting, and it is worth thinking about before you dig a single hole.
Where to start
Pick two or three daffodils you are genuinely excited about and plant them well. You can always add more next year. That is how every good garden grows, one season at a time.
Next time, I will take you through tulips, which are a different kind of choice entirely.
[Shop the Gathered for Autumn collection](https://bridgetwilsonflowers.com)
Comments