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Posted by: Mary Vinnedge
For the October/November issue of Design NJ magazine, I wrote about scented narcissuses, which are among my favorite-est flowers. They're particularly outstanding in New Jersey because deer, voles, and other #@$!% citters pass them by...usually on the way to devouring tulips to ground level.
And, no, I am not talking about the paperwhite narcissuses that bloom once indoors and must be tossed. (I am no fan of most paperwhites: The ones I've had developed an unpleasant smell - at least to me - after about 24 hours AND besides, I want plants that come back year after year.)
Bulb sellers Bob Sickles of Sickles Market in Little Silver and Peg Reynolds of Reynolds Garden Shop in Manahawkin described their favorite fragrant narcissus varieties, and then I hit a terrible snag in completing my assignment: I couldn't find photographs of the specific flowers they recommended. Their choices are diverse in appearance, color, and size, so I moved heaven and earth to find pictures to share.
During my hunt, I found a new bulb source: TulipWorld. These folks - super-nice, by the way - lent me the great photos I'm sharing here (and they're in the hard-copy magazine too).
Another nice surprise in doing the article was that Sickles and Reynolds shared great tips with home gardeners. One was Sickles' suggestion to gently toss your bulbs onto the ground and then bury them where they land to create a natural-looking planting. That's a far more interesting idea than lining them up in rows.
He also gave instructions for harvesting flowers: Reach deeply down the stem, near the base, and gently pull - and the narcissus stem will release. Then you can cut the narcissus to the appropriate length for your arrangement.
And he had an interesting approach to hiding the foliage (which must be left to wither in place to feed next year's blossoms): He rubber-bands clumps of foliage and hides them with spring-planted annuals. Then picking up the browned foliage is a snap because it's already bundled into rubber-band clusters.
Reynolds taught me this: Don't mix other flowers into a bouquet that includes narcissuses because their sticky secretions from the cut stems will clog the cut ends of other blossoms and interfere with their ability to take up water.
Reynolds and Sickles also recommend forcing these fragrant bulbs indoors. Many websites such as www.diynetwork.com offer instructions for forcing. (And by the way, Reynolds advises you to compost or otherwise discard forced bulbs because they generally do not repeat well after forcing.)
It's always great to learn from the experts - and borrow their beautiful photos!
- DNJ Blog
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