I planted daffs along a very long drive. they are "naturalized" and go into deep
shade. the original holes were scraped hollows in basically limestone type gravel.
8 years later. they bloom, they thrive, the clumps increase every year. they get no
fertilizer. go figure. If I had an unproductive clump I would pull it, stake the
area and order something else for the spot. Ingrid
"helco" wrote:
I've received a variety of answers here. I'll answer various questions that
were raised:
1. I always let the foliage die off on its own, and I always deadhead
(though not always soon enough). Some of the foliage gets shaded by hostas
after a while -- but those aren't necessarily the ones that don't bloom.
2. There's been some disagreement in the answers about whether they're the
right depth. Since some of those clumps look "leggy," I suspect they're not
deep enough, rather than too deep.
3. Some of them were getting lots of sun when they were planted, but their
spots are now shady. However, there doesn't seem to be much consistency
there -- some of the good bloomers are equally shaded.
4. Some of the clumps that don't bloom are newer than the good bloomers, so
I don't think they're too crowded.
5. Central Illinois soil is good (think corn and soybeans), and I think I
put compost in with everything when they were first planted.
So -- I'll put markers on the duds, and once the foliage has died back I'll
dig them up. I'll replant them at the proper depth, if that seemed to be a
problem, I'll move some to sunnier locations, and I'll give everything some
compost and phosphorusand/or bone meal. And then if they still don't
bloom -- they're compost.
Thanks, everyone, for your replies.
helco
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