Grow For Cut
42 Cultivars Listed
The Slow Flower movement is a ground swell of localized horticulture across the US. Daffodils, grown as perennials, can give your season an early boost of sales and cashflow. Knowing your market and climate will guide your selection. In the South daffodils bloom through the winter through the early spring : Jonquils and Tazettas will be your workhorses. Moving north the season for daffs is shorter and can be a challenge to market : most daffodils peak before the farmer's markets and roadside stands have opened for the season.
We can’t tell you exactly what week a cultivar will bloom for you at your farm, you will need to find that out for yourself.
By building a varied stock of specialty daffs and knowing their local market, growers can easily have wonderful stems to put on market for Easter, Mother's day, and into May wedding season. Variety sells better than commodity. Florists are looking for softer colors: daffodils with white petals and white, orange or pink cups. Doubles are good focal flowers but some varieties have short and wimpy stems. ( Some growers fall in love with the look of Petite Four, trust me, it’s an example of a bad cut flower) . Don’t overlook daffodils for fillers and secondary players : Triandrus, Jonquils and Tazettas can be strong team players. Some smaller stems like Sun Disc or Ringing Bells do very well for us. Daffodils do miniature better than any other flower genus.
If you are in need of hundreds or thousands of inexpensive bulbs, we are not the vendor to fill that need. If you are looking for unusual cultivars that work well for you and give you an advantage with your customers, please take a look around, you can find value here.
The thing about daffodils is that they readily increase (make viable offsets) and can be the most reliable perennials of all. Plant a few bulbs of some blooms that look fun to you. If you like the way they perform then you can add more in subsequent years or just dig and divide your stock every other year. In a season or two you will have increasing amounts and variety of blooms to bring to market. The purchase price of bulbs is long forgotten if the variety is unique, increases and sells well for you.
Daffodils should be harvested with the fingers, not snips or knives, to prevent spreading any disease. Grab the stem at ground level pinch and give it sharp yank. You will settle into a one-handed rhythm that is faster than juggling a pair of snips. Gooseneck stage showing a glimpse of color is cited as the correct stage for picking. But daffodils vary widely and can fully open in an hour or so: missing the exact moment won’t affect the overall lifespan of the stem. Some daffs develop better color with some sunshine on the cups, use your judgement.
Some designers may be reluctant to use daffodils in the vase because of their reputation of being toxic neighbors. But daffodils are fantastic in the arrangement and need not be avoided. Here is conditioning information to tame those sappy stems from the Holland Bulb Forcer's Guide, specifically for arrangements with tulips but applies equally to any stems you have to work with,
Therefore, all containers used for cut daffodil flowers should be marked and should not be used for fresh cut tulips.
For immediate use of freshly cut daffodil flowers with freshly cut tulip flowers, two systems are available:
- Place the cut daffodil flowers in water overnight and then rinse the stems prior to use with the cut tulips.
- Use 20 to 25 drops of bleach per gallon (4 liters) of water.
Place the cut daffodil flowers in the solution for a minimum of one hour and a maximum of six hours.
Subsequently, rinse the stems and use the flowers with the cut tulips.
We condition by letting the stems stand in cool clean water for 4-6 hours or overnight and then move to clean buckets with a holding solution.Make sure the bunches cannot slouch and bend in the bucket. Change the solution if holding for more than a few days. Daffs hold very well under refrigeration and then about a week in the vase,
Daffodils can be stored horizontal and dry. It may extend the holding life a week over holding wet.Condition as above, place the bunches horizontally in a plastic bag in a tulip crate and keep very cold. You can get 20 to 30 bunches of ten in a tulip crate. Rehydrate overnight before sending to market.
Some varieties may get curved stems when stored horizontally. You may find some varieties get a crepey texture and don’t rehydrate as well to full size.
4 W-Y
A newer double that is most like a lotus blossom when it opens a mild- yellow with an alluring symmetry. As Ambon matures into clear white and pale yellow it gets wide and wild. This is a superior cultivar, I am surprised that it is not offered more widely. A fine cut flower, in the landscape Ambon blooms a bit in the leaves.
This Daffodil is named for a city in the Moluccas in Indonesia, once a Dutch colony before they were asked to leave after the Second World War.
4 W-W
Androcles pulled a thorn from the paw of a pursuing lion who in turn befriended him for life. Androcles the daffodil has calmed and dethorned us also: we depend on this double daffodil in large numbers for the vase and the border. Its broad, softly cream colored, and long lasting blooms project a quiet roar . There are a lot of pale white / yellow doubles, but all- whites are more rare. Bred by the American Bill Pannill, a businessman who created many perfect blooms one at at time.
5 Y-Y
Here's a pedigreed child: poppy is a species jonquil and mumsy a species triandrus. Angel's Breath is a vigorous grower and should be widely adaptable. We also list her sister, Angel's Whisper, who is similar. About 20 years old, Tasmanian bred. Small and robust. ADS Miniature.
2 W-P
A new large cup daffodil from the van der Veeks with an intense deep pink colored corona and pure white mucronate petals . Bregt is recently registered.
4 Y-Y
This long celebrated double is new to our list. She is a magnificent creature and as old as the hills, as fresh as the dawn. Good for all uses and certainly as a conversation piece. I seldom see Butter and Eggs on the bench, but in a historical group certainly one to have. Fabulous and luxurious North, South, East, and West.
2 Y-Y
A bright and early classic-shaped all yellow large cup daffodil from the van der Veek breeding program. Named Cock a Doodle Doo because of its early call-of-the-rooster nature and wake up sleepy head color. It is easy to rise early knowing that this is blooming in your garden. Included in the "Grow for Cut " category as it is specially good for forcing.
7 W-YYP
A slim and colorful jonquil, proving you can never be too slender or too pink. Fragrant, floriferous and vigorous.
3 W-GWW
Broad white petals with a coy green eye. Much Sought after. ADS Historic, ADS Classic. Tall and late, it plays well with others: We put it on the May floral market. A bloom of great beauty and poise that defines elegance : one we cannot imagine living without. A proud parent both ways.
7 W-Y
The jonquilla Desert Bells makes two or four tidy and flattened white flowers per scape. Cup mellows to a light lemon. A late blooming dwarf that is at ease in the rock garden, in the pot or on the bench. Show winner. By Grant Mitsch.
11a W-GPP
An impressive upright and look-at-me split cup Electrus is an older seedling from Mr Duncan, Impressive both in the garden and in the vase.
2 W-GYW
Our flower grower's collective tallied up the sales figures and white flowers were number one, followed closely by anything green. Emerald Green is a large cup, but just, with very broad white petals and a spot of deep emerald green in the eye. A vigorous grower for cut, bench or border. An extra plus ? It's a Grant Mitsch variety, known for their perfection and health. Volume discounts.
4 W-Y
Erlicheer is an older tazetta sport with bodacious double, strongly scented blooms. Excellent for forcing and for cut flowers. Erlicheer may struggle in Zone 6 even with some winter protection. Grows freely in the South. A singular daffodil. Classified as a double but we all know that it really behaves as a tazetta. Makes an unusually large bulb.
4 W-O
Fragrant Spring is a luxurious double Dutch Double - She gets her powerful perfume from her mother and her double form from her father, Acropolis. We are listing it because we think it so belongs in the vase.
4 W-W
Well-named Frostbite is a spontaneous poeticus sport, extra white pointy petals intruding into the cup. Widely variable except that Frostbite retains an overall hexagonal corona shape, analogous to snowflakes. Scented Frostbite brings a lovely blast of cool to the late spring border when all of the other daffodils have melted. An intermediate, Frosty is attractive in a vase , for us blooms with Spanish Bluebells and Tulip Maureen. You will be pleasantly surprised by the the scent.
8 W-Y
No mean girls at this gathering, this early blooming tazetta from Bill Welch is friendly and free flowering, up to 14 blooms per scape. Girl's Night is another superior garden tazetta from the bulb barron, with a cup that is bright but not brassy.
3 W-W
This new van der Veek introduction has a small frilly cup and is white all over like Hudson Bay late in the spring before the winter ice finally melts. A very tall and very late Daffodil. Henry Hudson's first trips to North America were financed by the British. The Dutch East Indies investors our bid the Brits to finance Hank's voyage to find the Northeast passage. As soon as Henry got his hands on those guilders he sailed due west and discovered not any passage at all but Manhattan instead.
7 YYW-Y
This fabulous flower is another successful viridiflorus cross from John Hunter in New Zealand. It is pretty obviously a viridi/jonquil cross. We purchased it as Hunter Dawn, which is not registered: It is likely registered as Hunter Sunrise, so we are chalking this disconnect up to lost in translation from English to Dutch and back again. As expected the blooms are strong in color, form and substance.
5 W-W
This newer seedling from John Hunter is likely a viridiflora and triandrus cross. Like Polar Hunter and other spring fall viridiflora crosses Hunter Morn is a triple threat : early to rise, frangrant, long-lasting with great substance. On second thought maybe that is a quadruple threat. Two to four blooms per scape.
2 W-W
All white La Delicatesse is a well-named large cup. Refined and elegant the frilled trumpet makes you look twice, and then again. A balance of detail and form, a superior cultivar all around. La DÈ licatesse is a proven winner on the show bench. Four inch flowers bloom above the foliage. the leaves.
2 W-Y
We are very enamored with Little Spring King, he is one of Carlo's smaller-sized seedlings.Consistently cute as Prince Harry : royal good posture, radiates confidence and blooms well out of the leaves. A triple threat : good for pot culture, good for the rockery, good for exhibition.
2 W-W
Love You More ! You Bethca ! A shapely and robust large cupped trumpet from Carlos van der Veek. Lovely ivory white color with fabulous substance. While the perianth may be a bit ribby for the Judges, the overall form of this flower is impressive -- with a little primping I think it has ribbon winning potential. Pricing allows for landscape planting.
2 W-R
Abbra-narcissus-cadabra. When offered Magic Charm for sale we jumped at the chance like a leprechaun. A worthy descendant of the legendary Magician which you likely will not find, and certainly not at this price. A fabulous, older, Haven White / Red large cup.
8 W-W
An abundance of broad, substantial, wavy and white flowers on a scape bring a spirit of opulence to the bed, bench, and bunch. Nickelodeon is a modern poetaz, from Grand Monarque, and from New Zealand too. A remarkable flower that we recommend without a moment's hesitation.
12 W-Y
On the march to year round daffodils Polar Hunter is the vanguard; an April / October romance of a fall blooming viridiflorus species crossed with a spring bloomer. Polar Hunter breaks ground in late winter and proceeds to blossom at a leisurely pace. Because of its conspicuous substance, green-ivory color, and long lasting abundant blooms, florists and landscape designers take notice of this attractive cultivar.
A bloom of remarkable quality, we see it a lot in competition, while there may not be a lot of division 12 opportunities in any given daffodil show there is not much competition either.
2 W-P
A remarkable pink cup, Precocious is well-named, well-rounded, deeply colored, tall and late. She can be a bit variable in form and color, but always a fabulous bloom. Being 50 years old, Precocious is a bit of a misnomer.
4 W-Y
Erlicheer is a long time favorite of southern gardeners and florists for nearly a century. It was however, being sterile, a genetic dead end until Bill Welch engineered a successful cross resulting in Rachel's Magic Spell. Unique in form for both a double and a tazetta this is a daffodil that is superior in all attributes: scent, stature, strength. If you grow for florists they will flash mob this flower.
5 Y-Y
A tiny, greenish yellow triandrus that is so wasp-waisted it looks like one half of an English Christmas cracker. Gets its sweet fragrance from its daddy, the jonquil henriquesii. ADS Miniature from Walter Blom.
5 W-W
An newer, all-white and vigorous triandrus from the nursery of Brian Duncan. Also a very good and improved candidate for the landscape and for cutting.
