Daffodils on the Homestead
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| Daffodils are late this year (2025) - in years past I was already filling vases. |
When I was a little girl, we lived in a triplex, and my mom and I planted a handful of daffodils on a little strip of dirt along the fence. We rented and didn't have the space for a "real" garden, but my mom always had something growing. And so it came to be that everywhere I have lived, I have planted daffodils.
We bought our home nearly ten years ago and the year that we
bought it I spent $200.00 on daffodil bulbs, $40 on fence boards, $60.00 on
bagged soil and compost, and cut up some leftover bits of four by 4 posts from
another project and created 2 raised daffodil beds. This was the start of my
garden (later known as my little jungle).
One of the reasons I keep a homestead journal - found my original drawings from way back then.
They had names like Mount Hood, Ice Follies, Sweet Love, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Little Field and bloomed in shades of pale white, bold yellows; some petite
flowered and large flowered; some with matching trumpets some with bright orange
contrasting trumpets.
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| Daffodil bulbs of different varieties along with some Dutch Irises. |
For the few hours and few $100 invested nearly ten years ago, I have daffodils to fill the house for weeks during the spring. I calculated the value of the balloons this year - 12 stems for $52 plus delivery - my original 100 bulbs or so have flourished and many have split to give me more bulbs and blooms so conservatively I get 5 vases of 12 stems a year - so over $200.00 of value a year - but even at $20.00 for a bouquet from the grocery store that is $100 value for essentially doing nothing after the first year. OK I cut back the weeds each winter after they take over the bed in the summer.
Mid-February and still waiting on blooms.
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| Mount Hood, one of my favorites, blooming in 2024. As they age, their buttery trumpets fade to white. |
It's too late to plant daffodils now - mid-to-late autumn would be best - but gladiola's! Now is the time to plant Gladiolus! Another plant it and forget it flower!
Note: A version of this article was published on Medium.com on February 13, 2024.
Author's Note:
Wild Blackberry Apothecary is the dream of a one-woman homesteader in the middle of Middle Tennessee, USA. I currently work full time and homestead part time with 4 dogs, 12-30 chickens, several domestic blackberry and raspberry plants - and thousands of wild blackberry vines that are trying ot take over every inch that they can. My husband of 30+ years does not homestead, but indulges me. As we look towards our retirement years, we hope to further develop our property and perhaps add more rescue dogs, more blackberries and trees, and have me move to homesteading full time.
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