Daffodil

Daffodils are the backbone of the spring garden and the spring cutting garden: reliable, long-lived, deer-proof, and available in forms from the classic large yellow trumpet to white and orange split-cups, doubles and miniatures. Narcissus pseudonarcissus, the wild daffodil of Europe, is the parent of the trumpet types and naturalises in grass better than almost any of them.

Plant bulbs in autumn at three times their depth, 4 to 6 inches apart, in full sun or the light shade under deciduous trees, in soil that drains; they tolerate clay if it is not waterlogged in summer. Leave the foliage to die back on its own, about six weeks after flowering, since that is when the bulb stores next year's flower; mowing or braiding the leaves early is the usual reason a planting thins out. They multiply for years without lifting, and crowded clumps can be divided in summer once the leaves have died down.

As cut flowers they exude a sap that shortens the vase life of other stems. Condition them alone for twelve hours and they can then be mixed with anything. Cut when the bud has coloured and bent to the horizontal. Every part of the plant is poisonous, which is why deer, rabbits, voles and squirrels leave daffodils alone.