Planting daffodil bulbs in Phoenix, Arizona

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It's November 11th, and I just planted some daffodil bulbs. This year I decided to go big, so I got Dutch Masters. 

The first thing to do is to prepare the area for planting, and then place the bulbs where you want them to grow. I always take a photo (the pic up there is a still from a TikTok video, where I'm cycadbrad) and that tells me where they are. Once they're planted, of course, all you see is dirt.

I didn't plant them terribly deep, but deeper than iris bulbs (which are planted just below the surface), and I sprinkled a bunch of coffee grounds (which I had been saving up), some good quality potting soil, and then some mulch (I just use the leaves that fall off of my olive tree). I put up a little fence around it because I have a puppy (well, a young dog!) and while she doesn't dig in the garden, fresh soil is just too much of a temptation. Once the bulbs sprout, and have good roots, in about a month or so, I'll take the fencing down.

Over the years I've experimented with getting my bulbs from lots of places, including the Dollar Store, and my local Home Depot. This year I splurged and got some really good-quality "mail-order" bulbs because I really want to have a spectacular display. These are absolutely gigantic flowers, and they'll be show-stoppers, I know!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Update: December 28th. I saw the very first little-tiny sprout poking its head out just now!



Update: January 8th:


Update February 4th:
I added some annual flowers around the daffodils.

Update February 25th:
Good strong growth, I should be seeing blooms fairly soon!

Update March 1st:
The first sign of a bulge, which will be a bloom

Update March 3rd:

First bloom. The blooms last for about a week, which is great.

Update March 31: Snipped off the last bloom of the season. Now the goal is to let the leaves die back naturally, in order for them to give energy for next year's blooms! Yes, you can roll them up and tuck them neatly underneath the annual flowers - just don't cut them off.

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