Interesting. Thank you kindly. So they're ok getting almost no light for a while, even those whose shoots have emerged? Or maybe even under three feet of snow they are still getting enough light for photosynthesis to continue.

Or, to put it another way, they can survive better in a situation of low light than low temperatures?

How is it that the snowplough comes into your yard?

Hah! We're at the end of a long driveway, and the flower bed is right near that driveway. This is not the plowing done by the city but rather by my neighbor who shares the driveway and generously does the plowing. Now that I have bulbs planted there, next year we have to figure out somewhere else to put the snow.

But I'd like to know more about how daffodils handle being buried under 2 feet of snow for a few weeks after their shoots have started to come up. I know generally plants don't like to have their growth interrupted or slowed once it's begun.

I wouldn't be surprised if they go white and etiolate since they will detect light through the snow, I imagine. Just guessing though. I've never had to deal with 2 feet of snow.

Plenty of light comes through snow. In snowy mountain climates native trees and shrubs like conifers and rhododendrons that have leaves present throughout the year (and evergreen herbaceous plants, for that matter) may spend months under depths of 10 ft. or more on a yearly basis.

That's why I guessed they would etiolated. They would have light but less than without the snow. Don't you think they would go pale at all, Embo.? Bearing in mind these are bulbs in a fast growing phase not evergreens just ticking over.

Right, my concern is what happens if they spend the next three weeks under some amount of hard-packed snow (the snowplow tends to compress the snow as it pushes it). If the low-light situation causes the shoots to go white or yellow, and etiolate, I'm guessing they'll recover to some extent once the snow melts, but as floral_uk mentions this should be their time of rapid growth. I've had plenty of experience with (other) plants never really recovering after having had their growth interrupted or slowed while young.

I ask these questions only in part for practical reasons; at least as important to me is the botanical education I'm getting. This group has been a wonderful learning process.

Well, I spent two hours yesterday shoveling most of the snowpile on top of my daffodil shoots and then today's mid-day sun melted a lot of the rest. And now, either I'm my own worst enemy and my shovel lopped the heads off a few of the shoots, or the blade of the snowplow did. Many of the plants don't look as bad as this first photo, but how well do daffodil plants recover from having their leading edge lopped off when they're just starting to grow? I can't imagine any of these beheaded blades can recover, but I imagine the bulb will send up new shoots?

No one really answered your concern about daffodils surviving a snowstorm. Nature has a way of dealing with all kinds of weather situations. Had I seen this post earlier, I would have told you to leave the snow on the daffodils and let nature take its course.

That being said, here in PA, we had an unusually warm spell in February followed by a cold March. Many daffodils bloomed early and then flopped over when it got cold. But they will be fine next year. Daffodils can tolerate a lot. It's hard to kill them. Unless you cut them off while trying to shovel snow off them.

Did they grow back?

That's great! Daffodils are really hard to kill, and multiply like crazy. You will never be without daffodils for the rest of your life! Lol I'm still trying to find places for the off shoots of the original 10 bulbs I purchased 25 years ago.

Remember to cut some to bring in to brighten your house in the following years. Enjoy.