Beginner Question: Tulip Seeds and Daffodil Seeds--What'snext?

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:37:06 PDT
Anita, the main thing you will need for growing tulips and daffodils from
seed is lots of patience. Both take about five years (sometimes more) to
bloom from seed. 

 

Neither sort of seed is likely to germinate during the hot weather, and
seeds in the ground during the summer are vulnerable to predation. So wait
until sometime in September to sow them. Use a well draining mix.

 

If you only have a bit of seed, sow the seed in pots or in cold frames. If
you have a lot, try broadcasting it in suitable places. 

 

Seed sown in September of 2009 will not show above ground growth until late
winter of 2010. During the first year all you will see above ground is what
looks like a blade of grass - sometimes with the seed coat attached at the
tip. This little leaf will last for a few months only, and then die down for
the year. 

 

Each year after that it should get a little bigger, until the year comes
when it finally blooms. 

 

So you see, it takes a lot of patience. E.A. Bowles long ago pointed out
that if you sow a bit of seed every year, you will soon arrive to the years
when something new will be blooming for the first time each year. 

 

I still remember the first large-flowered white trumpet daffodils I raised
from seed long ago: I had almost forgotten I had planted the seed in all the
years it took for them to bloom. But it was very exciting when they did. 

 

So good luck and don't give up during the early, lean years.

 

 

Jim McKenney

jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com

Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone
7

My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/

BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/

 

Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS 

Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ 

 

Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 


More information about the pbs mailing list