Tips for daffodils

In these difficult and worrying times, flowers can really help. Just look at this array of spring flowers and smile to see the colour and the hope of new life. It may be hard to find flowers in the shops at the moment, but there are still daffodils around in some supermarkets - and many people will have them in their gardens. This blog is about the relationship between your daffodils and your vases! So...if you take a tall vase with a reasonably narrow neck you can add just a few daffodils with long stems. The vase will hold them tightly and the look will be pleasing to the eye. There is a good balance here between the stem length and the height of the vase.

If you would like your display to look even more bountiful - just add another handful of daffodils (the same sort, or a different variety). I have cut some of the stems a little shorter so that the blooms are graduated from the top to the bottom - drawing the eye from the highest flower, through to the lowest.

I have used one of my favourite jugs here. I like the way the yellow flower painted on the vase helps to connect the daffodils with the jug. In fact, I`ve collected 3 vases with a similar design on them, but different sizes and shapes. They all work really well with daffodils. Look what happens when I place the long-stemmed daffodils in a squatter jug with a wider neck.

This makes the daffodils fan out and space is added between the stems. It's a very different look. And if I take the same daffodils and cut them a lot shorter I can create a massed effect. Completely different!

Daffodils are prolific and cheap. Two jugs placed next to each other look great when the two jugs are painted in a similar way.

Or how about three. Vases and jugs displayed in threes work especially well when all three are different heights.

I collected these three jugs from various junk shops and antique shops - I always have my eyes open for pretty jugs and vases. I find I have to be careful selecting jugs that work together - if the patterns are too busy they will compete with the flowers. Another approach is to use just one colour of container. This creates a more contemporary effect with the same daffodils.

I hope this may have given you a few ideas about what to do with your daffodils. It looks like we might be confined to our homes for some weeks yet and I plan to put another blog together with tips for tulips once ours are in bloom and I have something to work with. I hope you can enjoy the flowers of the early spring whether you grow them in your garden, on your balcony, or just appreciate them in the park during your daily walk. Stay safe and well.