Last fall, I began the process of moving some of my favorite plants to the new garden. Having collected several varieties of daffodil, I knew immediately that I would want to take them with me. Little did I know that the project would turn into such a large undertaking.
Upon digging most of the varieties of daffodil, I quickly found that most had multiplied over the years. Large clumps, as pictured above, were quite common. Depending upon their level of maturity, the bulbs could be split apart or simply replanted. Bulbs that were ready to divide would pull apart from each other very easily, without force. Each new bulb had already formed a “skin” around it, and was only connected to the others by its tangled roots.
At the new garden, I dug several long trenches in order to prepare for the planting. I couldn’t believe how the daffodil bulbs had multiplied. I would guess that the initial planting had created more than 5x the original amount in the period of about 5 years.
I still managed to pack the bulbs in pretty close at planting time. Since the process was so involved, I imagine that most of the bulbs might need to use the first growing season as a time to rebound. As I was pretty late in digging the bulbs, many of them had already began growing and producing roots.
Though I don’t plan to dig and divide thousands of daffodil bulbs again, I do think that doing so was well worth the effort. I’m really looking forward to watching the plants continue to multiply and spread in their new beds.
Have you ever divided daffodil bulbs before? I’d love to hear all about your experience in the comment section below. Be sure to check out my video on the process on YouTube. Thanks so much for visiting the blog!
