Sibe,

I want to plant some daffodils for my spring garden, but can you tell me more about some of the other varieties that are out there rather than the traditional bright yellow flower. Also can you plant the different bulbs alongside each other?

Our Gardening Expert replies:

Hi Georgie,

Large flowered trumpet Daffodils such as the classic 'King Alfred' make really attractive spring displays, but as you say there are many other colours than the traditional gold and yellow. With the same classic flower shape you can get white daffodils such as 'Beersheba' and there are also flowers with more unusual colours such as the pink and white 'Mrs R O Backhouse'. This opens with a yellow central cup which gradually turns pink as the flower ages. There are many others with solid pink cups and yet more with tinges of pink around the edge. You will probably have to go to a specialist catalogue to get some of these but one which sounds very interesting, with a cup so deeply pink that some people consider it red, is called 'Catalyst'.

One of my favourites is the plain white large flowered 'Mount Hood' and also 'Salome', white with an orangey-pink trumpet.

Some of the species types are quite attractive as well, such as the fragrant Narcissus 'Hawera' which has up to four flowers per stem, and also the delicate looking brilliant white 'Thalia'.

You can plant the different bulbs alongside each other - though I don't think this would look as good as if they were planted in distinct groups as they will very often flower at different times and the effect can be diluted if they are all mixed up. There will also be size differences between the bulbs and as these should be planted two or three times deeper than the bulb width it could be awkward to plant different sizes at different depths in the same hole. This works better in a pot rather than the open ground but it all depends how much space you've got available.

Hope this helps!

Sibe.

For more seasonal gardening advice see Spring Gardening Tips and Drop in on Spring.