Growing daffodils in the winter in Phoenix, Arizona

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I planted some daffodil bulbs last month (in December), and I'm just starting to see them sprout now, on the beginning of the third week of January. They will grow quickly, and will be blooming in February.

Even though it's kinda chilly out there now (59 degrees right now), when I planted them about a month ago, they were planted alongside of annuals, which died from the heat. It wasn't ridiculously hot last month, but it got hot enough to kill the tiny little annuals. But the bulbs are doing just fine.

I bought a package of 25, and planted them in groups of three in different places in my backyard. In some spots I planted five in the same hole, as I like the look of a cluster of daffodils, single ones just look so sad.

If you plant bulbs, you know how cool it is to see them just starting to sprout. I start looking for new growth about ten minutes after I plant a bulb, and just keep looking all of the time. But you really won't see anything for at least a month. If you haven't seen anything after that time, well, something probably went wrong, and hopefully you'll get a chance to try again!

King Alfred daffodil bulbs, and some annuals.

The variety that I planted is called King Alfred, and they're BIG. I just looked it up, looks like they were planted on December 6th. I just looked at the picture of those nice little annuals, and it's sad to think that they're all gone. I've lived here for a long time, and I never suspected that the first week of December would be too hot! Maybe I should have shaded them. I'll think of that next time.

By the way, since Phoenix is so warm, you don't need to lift the bulbs, just leave them in the ground and they'll bloom next year. The trick is to not cut back the dead foliage in April, but to let it die back naturally. That's a difficult thing for me to do - to leave them alone! But that's what you've gotta do.

I am really looking forward to February!

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