As the old saying goes, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Personally, after spending most of my life coddling borderline plants (that never looked very happy) I'm focusing on what grows well here, even if it means common plants (for here).

Nothing says "Spring" like the scent of daffodils!!!

"With the rose and the lily and the daffydowndilly

the lads and the lassies a-sheep-shearing go"

... a little ditty from a Thomas Hardy novel which I love, in spite of it's lack of literal realism. Where in the world do roses, lilies and daffodils all bloom at the same time,lol?

Your daffodils are beautiful. That's one thing I haven't tried here.

Here in California we usually have our best luck with Tazetta class daffodils. They are well adapted to warmer Mediterranean climates. Of these my favorite is 'Golden Dawn'.

There is an American bulb catalog called Old House Gardens. They specialize in older varieties. You won't be able to order from it, but you can read it online and see which varieties (other than the Tazetta class) do well with a mild winter. Look for the ones listed as being adapted to the South. They with names you can look around to see what is available to you.

And good luck!

Sultry, have a look at these recommendations for heat-loving daffodils:

https://oldhousegardens.com/HeatLovingDaffodils

I think I'll try some more 'Tête à Tête' daffodils; they are small and fragrant and bloom about now... I'd guess they'd also do well for you.

Virginia

Ha! I see that rosefolly has pre-empted me. That must be a good sign, eh?

Jonquillas as well as Tazettas are recommended for warmer zones. While I haven't seen them go as far as zone 10, they are mentioned for zone 9.

I posted something to this effect on the other copy of this thread.

:-)

~Christopher

Sorry, I do not know how this thread loaded twice. It must have been the Houzz imps.

mohavemaria, that is a great photo. Thanks for that.

bart, I love your Thomas Hardy ditty and Virginia I love your poem on the other head. They are both happy and sunny poems as they should be with the subject matter.

Rosefolly, Christopher and Virginia, you are so right. I should concentrate on the Jonquils, Tazettas and others that are naturally happy here. The trouble is that I am greedy. I love my Tete a Tete going up the steps.

and all my Tazettas and Jonquils.

...but I still want my daffodils and I don't really understand why.

I think noseometer "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." mohavemarie "they never got old for a person who normally isn’t a big fan of yellow flowers." and bart "Nothing says "Spring" like the scent of daffodils!!!", understand best.

Daisy

Thanks you guys!! Oh I am definitely checking into southern daffodils! I didn't know I could grow them here. We used to be considered an 8b but are now 9a (global warming, I presume) I am near the coast so I didn't know if it got cold enough but depending on the year, we get some freezes. This year we got to the mid 20's F maybe 6 times. Last year I think we only had a few freezes total. There's an Ace Hardware that has an excellent nursery here with all kinds of interesting bulbs. I will have to go back and look closer. They had 15 different Amaryllis last time I was there. I didn't pay attention to which daffodils they had then. I need to have a closer look lol.

I think yellow flowers just make people happy. The color is so cheerful. Sunflowers always make me smile too.

Wowza Daisy, you are an artist with plants.

Daisy- The heart wants what the heart wants, right?

Your bulb expert friend sounds like a gem. I'll bet he has some terrific suggestions for your garden. Who knew that King Alfred would be one? I believe that it's one of the most popular daffodil bulbs, Maybe it doesn't seem like spring without it for a lot of people. Yours look wonderful and are happy enough to spread. Good choice! They look like spring to me, too.

SJN- Growing bulbs is addictive but there is a learning curve if you live in the south. It isn't only about the zone where you live but also, whether you have moisture in the summer. Some bulbs that grow in CA won't grow in Florida. It helps to read the OHG web page that Virginia posted and read their newsletters (free) even if you never buy from them. They know what they're talking about and want you to succeed. Or you could do like I did and use trial and error to figure it out. On the plus side I found out who the real experts were. On the negative side, I spent a lot more time and money to get what I really wanted- flowers.

Kes, thats good advice. If I want to try something new I usually research and then if I still want to do it I will just buy a few and see what happens lol. Ive had a lot of failures but sometimes things surprise me and do really well despite what I read lol. It keeps life interesting. I really love bulbs but I have mostly grown warm loving bulbs/tubers like tuberose, gloriosa lilies, dahlias, canna, blood lilies, caladiums, criniums, etc etc.

When I lived in a colder location I had tulips, Iris, & Hyacinths. I didn't have daffodils though.

I planted some plain Stargazer oriental lilies in pots last spring and I didn't know if they would return. I actually forgot about them but they are coming up. We had some extra cold weather earlier this winter so maybe that helped.

~Sjn

Oh, Daisy - I LOVE that picture of your steps with the little bunch of daffodils (or are they narcissi/jonquils? Sorry, I don't know the difference!) - on each step. Just stunning!

I used to live in the UK and I remember the daffodils everywhere in spring - I especially loved seeing a whole meadow of them, sort of "growing wild" in the local parks (I don't know if they were or probably carefully planted by the park gardeners - haha!).

I can also relate to your feelings of wistfulness - I used to live in Oxford and had all those romantic, beautiful Cotswolds English gardens on my doorstep that I never really paid much attention to - and now I live in hot, dry Australia and desperately want an English cottage garden (and am trying to create one, even though everybody local tells me its a lost cause and will only lead to heartache eventually!). Argh! I wish I'd appreciated all those gorgeous gardens I had access to when I was still living in England - can you believe that I never even went to the Chelsea Flower Show? I'm kicking myself now!! :-)

~ HY