Narcissus - A favourite spring cut flower

A shopping list for Spring Floral Success

If you plant anything for the spring, I’d always suggest Narcissus. I adore them. Let me count the ways -

1. There are varieties available from January through to late May.

2. Plant once and they come up year after year

3. Multiple flowering stems

4. Scented

5. Long lasting in the vase and in the border

The same can’t be said for most tulips, especially if you cut them! That’s a bit mean about tulips. But I feel burnt from loving them. The tulip craze is still very real. Turn away from those images and come to the other side.

I’m not talking about the characterless plain yellow bulbs sold in supermarkets, whilst they have their place, if that’s all you know, you have no idea what you are missing!

Yes, I am obsessed by narcissus. They are so easy, planted and forgotten about, so easy to cut and condition (despite giving off anti social toxic sap for a few hours until they calm down and agree to share a vase) and are utterly enchanting.

They have variations on a pretty pale and yellow colour spectrum, shape and size and flowering over 5 months, they are almost a secret weapon in the flower growers arsenal at the beginning of the year. And they are beginning to catch on with so many different ones to choose from.

Unlike many other bright bulbs and corms, they are very easy to arrange and combine with. I think they bring an elegance to arrangements and despite being straight and uniform, easily used to create movement, shape and structure with or without any other material. Though I love mixing them with winter flowering climbers, nascent perennials and bare branches.

Versatile, reliable and elegant, they have it all as far as I am concerned.

Here are some of my top ten favourites. I mostly buy from Peter Nyssen because they supply excellent bulbs; never mouldy or rotten, always what you actually ordered and they don’t spray with neonicotinoides.