White daffodils with a sunny yellow center.

Today is the last day of April and there is plenty in bloom in the garden.  Blue vinca flowers form a lovely backdrop to plants that are in the process of leafing out like the rugosa roses.  The creeping phlox I was so concerned about just two weeks ago are greening up nicely and are developing buds.  Those that didn’t suffer from browning this past winter are covered in buds and flowers.  The hellebores are in bloom and the bleeding hearts aren’t far behind.

But the undoubted star of the garden are the daffodils (Narcissus).  Their bright yellow, bell shaped flowers are joined by variations in white and peach or other combinations scattered in numerous locations throughout the yard.  They make an incredibly cheerful display this early in the growing season while the rest of the garden is just waking up.

Daffodils ready to bloom.

They’re probably the only bulb I can plant in the fall that I’ll be sure will come up in the spring.  It’s not that other flower bulbs are unreliable.  It’s that the neighborhood squirrels seem to know exactly when and where I plant spring bulbs and make it their business to abscond with them.  Daffodils are the exception.  Squirrels seem to know daffodils won’t make a good mid-winter snack.

The same is true for the deer who browse my garden.  Many a hosta has been reduced to tiny nubs when the deer come to dine.  The same is true for tulips.  One year I planted a lovely row of tulips only to discover one afternoon after the leaves had emerged about eight inches that a crescent-shaped bite had been taken out of each leaf along the row.  Fortunately, the flowers hadn’t emerged yet, so I was able to enjoy my tulip crop that year, even if the leaves did look a bit odd.

On the other hand, deer avoid the daffodils.  Once I discovered this, I replaced the row of tulips (which tend to be short-lived perennials around here) with a row of daffodils.  I still have a couple of beds of tulips, but they’re not so obvious and thus not so inviting to the nibblers who visit.  I suspect the reason deer and squirrels avoid daffodils is that they somehow know they’re not good to eat.

Fancy ruffled daffodils bloom as creeping phlox wait to be planted.

Daffodils are definitely not on the list of edible flowers, so don’t be tempted to decorate a cake with them or put them in a salad.  All parts of the daffodil are toxic and can cause some nasty digestive issues.  Keep daffodils away from pets who might munch on the flowers or leaves, and be sure they don’t have access to the water cut daffodils are in. 

Fortunately, my cat shows  no interest in my plants or cut flowers I bring in from the garden.  I’ll be bringing a bit of spring indoors with a bouquet of daffodils for as long as they last.

Cutting daffodils to bring indoors.

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