Since I moved to Wanganui 11 years ago, I have planted over 200 dafs, jonquils and freezias. This year as usual I had less than a handful of blooms. Plenty of leaves. My section backs onto a reserve with oak trees. Could this be the cause. I feed and water regularly. I'm thinking of digging them all out. Any suggestions please?
kateley,
Sep 17, 12:48am
2 possible reasons spring to mind. Do you feed a bulb food or at least a 'flower' food? Too much nitrogen/not enough potash will cause lots of leaves but not many blooms. Also, the narcissus bulb fly will eat out the flower while it's still in the bulb but it will also cause your bulbs to decrease in number as well.
shanreagh,
Sep 17, 1:05am
My sister lives on a farm in Southland and they have a southeast cutting that has been mass planted with daffodils. They come up every year to provide a show without fail. I think that the difference here with some home gardeners is that a) good natural fertiliser from sheep droppings/urine b) grass etc kept short ie chewed) on the surface c) only has the rain that comes, no extra watering and no water puddles around the bulbs d) only has minimal other fertilisers only the little bit of tractor/plane topdressing that reaches there when fertiliser is applied every few years. e) the bulbs are not lifted every year
My mother lived in Whanganui and though she had lovely gardens she found it was a hard place to garden in (after HB). There is a lot of sand which is water repellent and then in one garden they had lava sort of stones. Whanganui East, outer Aramoho and St Johns Hill were the best gardening places.
You could ask at a gardening centre. there used to be one at bottom of St Johns hill at the top of Victoria Avenue.
It is so disappointing isn't it.
oh_hunnihunni,
Sep 17, 8:06pm
I planted masses of tiny petticoat daffs along the edges of our community garden when I first arrived in my piece of paradise. They bloomed beautifully in season, so I added wood hyacinths and grapes and they too made a lovely show. Then management employed contractors, who swooped in and cleaned up the garden.
All gone, bare earth is so much tidier.
veejay13,
Sep 17, 8:27pm
Aw hunni, that is so sad.
shanreagh,
Sep 17, 8:32pm
And who cares about seasons etc and letting things lie dormant until they're good & ready to come up.
So sad Hunni
oh_hunnihunni,
Sep 17, 9:30pm
The worst loss though were the exotic oxalis corms. If only they reproduced as fast as the common ones, lol.
brouser3,
Sep 17, 9:56pm
Yup - everything is minimilist. No color, no atmosphere, no randomness, no change with the season - we have to be so environmentally correct with amenity plantings etc etc but chuck out nature in the process.
calostemma,
Sep 17, 10:21pm
My chooks cleaned these out before I realised they love oxalis
calostemma,
Sep 17, 10:22pm
Bet they left the thorny roses though
joanie32,
Sep 18, 4:35am
How far below ground level the dafs? I have to put top soil over mine each year as they have a habit of popping up. If they are too close to the surface you will get a lot of leaf, and few flowers.
oh_hunnihunni,
Sep 19, 7:51pm
Nope, those got devastated too. As did the Stormy Cloud agapanthus (heavenly navy blue) and the salvias got a good haircut too. I have given up being cross, they are contractors, not gardeners I tell myself.
oh_hunnihunni,
Sep 29, 12:55am
This emphasis on getting the most for the budget outlay is a terrible barrier to long term beauty.
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