Daffodils as Cut Flowers

When it comes to spring flowers, the one variety I’ve been growing the longest here at Eagleview Farm is none other than the daffodil. 

For starters, daffodils are extremely easy to grow. Unlike flowers grown from seed that need to be nurtured and cared for in order to thrive, bulbs have everything they need to bloom already inside of them. By nature, they are pretty self-sufficient which means that all you have to do is get them in the ground. Come spring, they bloom all on their own. It’s the easiest, low-maintenance kind of growing there is!

And if they already weren’t easy enough to grow, daffodils are pretty immune to pests and disease. Deer, rabbits, and many other pesky critters that like to munch on garden plants will actually leave daffodils alone so you don’t have to worry about whether or not you’re going to get to enjoy your fall-planted bulbs come spring.

Daffodils nowadays are different from that traditional, bright yellow flower that we’re all so familiar with. Believe it or not- you can grow daffodils in shades of cream, orange + even pink; And in addition, there’s so many unique styles and forms to choose from- you have ruffled varieties, more traditional trumpet styles and plenty of doubled varieties as well that have layers upon layers of petals. And many daffodil varieties have a subtle, sweet scent too!

All of which makes them a fantastic cut flower to grow and enjoy.

I do want to mention that freshly cut daffodil stems will release a clear, sappy liquid. Be aware that this sap is one reason daffodils have the reputation of not “playing well with other flowers”. If daffodils are used in combination with other flowers in an arrangement, the sap from the daffodils can diminish the vase life of the other flowers.

Your best bet to circumvent this is to condition your daffodils separately before arranging. Simply cut your stems to their desired height, place them in their own bucket with cool water and allow them to remain in that water for a couple of hours. During this time, the ends of your daffodil stems will callous over + stop leaking sap, allowing them to be used in combination with other flowers. 

Understand that if you wish to recut your stems, you’ll need to repeat this conditioning process all over again as a fresh cut will cause more sap to be released. 

Of course you can skip this process altogether by creating an arrangement solely of daffodils.