Growing daffodils in the desert - King Alfred

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Daffodils grow great in the Phoenix, Arizona area. You can plant them as early as September, and as late as December. The ones I have growing here right now, which are King Alfreds, were planted in early December, and it's now February 14th. They will reach their full height (which is considerable) and start blooming in a few weeks.

I've grown lots of different bulbs here, but I always come back to daffodils, and especially the big ones, like King Alfreds. I plant in groups on no less than three, and I hand-water all winter, because my automatic watering system is turned off in late December and all of January. The bulbs are planted near enough to my walkway that I can easily water them, and then as they bloom, and the blooms fade, I can deadhead them.

I don't know if you can tell by the photo, but King Alfreds are not only big plants, their foliage is just slightly bluish. This makes them stand up to the heat that comes on pretty quick here in the desert, although of course they will fade away by late spring/early summer. That's one of the weird things about planting in the desert - you plant in the fall and winter, and the daffodils disappear in the summer.

I wish I could show you just how fast these plants grow. It seems like you turn your back and they're taller. Should be a great show pretty soon!

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