Double-headed daffodils are the best option for your garden. These are rare, enhance your garden beauty, and add fragrance when blooming in the mid to late spring season.
Are Double Headed Daffodils Rare? Double-headed daffodils are rare and appear due to natural mutation, hybridization, too much moisture or dry soil, and late flowering. In addition, it happens due to overproduction of the bulb at one place and its fusion with each other which can slow their growth rate. Daffodils have several color varieties, mostly creamy white petals centered with various colors, like pink, orange, yellow, and pinkish corals.
These come in various colors and designs. These are tolerant to cold weather conditions that are necessary for flower bud development.
Why are Double-Headed Daffodils Rare?
Growth rate of double-headed daffodils depends on cultivated location, maintenance, proper care, and shady area.
Natural Mutation
They grow by their bulbs in the garden, and their leaves emerge as a first step.
Later on, their buds start from the bulb and show growth with time. The bud blossoms and transforms into a lovely flower as the stem matures.
One flower blooms on each stem and lasts for 4-5 weeks, depending on the temperature and other environmental factors.
However, sometimes, you will get two headed flowers instead of a single one on the same stem.
It can be unusual for some gardeners but is quite natural as a result of a phenomenon called a natural mutation.
It changes its growth pattern and begins to produce two blossoms on a single stem.
These are uncommon because they are the product of natural phenomena that you cannot control.
Therefore, there will be a maximum of few plants in a garden with this behavior of 2 heads from a single sprout.
Hybridization
Gardeners and hobbyists continue to develop new daffodil varieties with various colors, sizes, shapes, and blooms.
In addition, they cross-pollinate different species to create new sorts, and this process is called hybridization.
Therefore, you will get these from nurseries developed due to pollinating several plants to get desirable features.
These are rarer than single-headed plants; you need to search for them from various plantation sites.
Moreover, hybridization is a lengthy and time taking process. You may have to wait a few years until the full development of a new variety.
Late Flowering
They store food in the bulbs that they use during their flowering season.
However, sometimes, due to overcrowding, they do not blossom until they fulfill their nutrient requirements.
As a result, they will bloom later in the season, which is usual with these plants.
They require additional nutrients for two heads and should be healthy for complete growth. Their pollination process will also be delayed if they grow into flowers late.
However, it results in more time for their development with these features.
However, you can overcome it by keeping your plants nutrient-rich according to requirements and getting good growth and multiplication to enhance your orchard.
What are double-headed daffodils called?
Daffodils derive from the Greek word, which belongs to the Amaryllis family. It has several names, like spring bulbs, double narcissus, and spring flowers.
These resemble carnations or peonies in appearance. These have a fragrant scent, a high decorative value, multiple petals rows, and more ruffled cups.
What is the rarest type of daffodils?
These are hundreds of year-old flowering plants and have thousands of varieties. Even Horticulturists are still working to develop new variants.
Trumpet Major daffodil variety is more than 440 years old and is one of the rarest since its development in 1576.
However, it is one of the oldest, and you can find its sprouts in limited numbers offered by some historical gardens. You can buy them online and be a part of this historical journey.
Colors of double-headed daffodils
These plants come in various color varieties. The most common are yellow, and others are white, bicolor, pink or red, and orange. You can cultivate several daffodils with their color varieties.
Narcissus bridal crown is a double daffodil with a sweetly fragrant and beautiful appearance. It has white-creamy petals, and its center has a saffron yellow color.
Another double flower is the Narcissus cheerfulness, which blooms from mid to late spring. It has a white creamy petal pattern and yellow in the center.
The Narcissus Delnashaugh is another gorgeous variety. It has white-creamy petals with apricot pink parts in the middle.
Narcissus Erlicheer is a charming double daffodil that is hard to avoid.
You can add this to your garden for winter bloom. Its petals have a pure white color pattern with an ivory center that shows a yellowish hue.
Another one is a Narcissus flower drift that blooms in mid-spring. It has creamy white petals with an orange-yellow center, making it a beautiful Naturalizer.
Golden Ducat and Rip van Winkle are eye-catching having pointed bright golden yellow petals.
The Narcissus Ice King spring has creamy-white petals centered with a pale lemon yellow color.
Narcissus Replete is a good option for containers, borders, and indoor gardens. Its two rows have white-creamy petals with pinkish corals color ruffles in their center.
The requirement to grow double-headed daffodils
Maintain an average to the medium moisture level in the soil is suitable for their growth.
These should cultivate in a little shady area or under the full sun because their stem can break or damage in high wind or more moisture.
These cannot survive for a long time if you grow these under shrubs or evergreen trees. It needs 5 to 6 hours of sunlight daily with a partially shady area for better growth.
You can plant these in your entryways, perennial garden, containers, front yards, and indoor pots.
These should be planted in the soil 7″ deep and 7″ apart in the mid-fall, early winter, or late season.
Planting at the right time and in suitable soil will ensure optimum blooming in the spring season.
If their growth rate is not progressing normally, check conditions like too dry or too wet soil. You can use fertilizer for better nourishment and store energy for next season.
The size of the bulb of each type is almost the same, so it is hard to differentiate. Such confusion usually happens if these mix up in the bags or bins during packing.
So, you should make sure before buying these. If you combine these with other plants during cultivation, you can get stunning color variations.
How many heads can daffodils have?
There are different varieties of daffodils having multiple-headed flowers.
It has almost 14-headed flowers, mostly creamy white petals. Based on their features, these are divided into approximately 13 several divisions.
When you see the stem of this multi-headed flower, it is thick, broad, and flat. It means various heads bloom from a single stem.
After their season, you should remove the dry part because it is a best practice for bulb growth and blossoming in the next season.
I bought a bag of bulbs from an online store to cultivate these flowers in my garden.
After planting and visiting after a few weeks, I was surprised to see that various multi-headed flowers bloom in my garden.
These have multiple varieties, like four and five-headed. Such a situation appears when bulbs mix up in the bag or bins, and the seller is not sure about the type.
Do double-headed daffodils have more petals?
These come in different shapes and colors to show their magnificence and beauty in your garden.
Mostly these will be in the form of 2 flower heads on a stem with the same number of petals on each as on one daffodil.
However, sometimes, there will be a single flower with double the amount of petals. Therefore, you will find them arranged in 2 rows to have a beautiful display.
Moreover, their large size and multi-petalled booms will make them unique, and you can use them for special applications.
Can you grow double-headed daffodils with seeds?
You can grow these daffodils with seeds, but it can take more time for growth.
Most cultivars prefer to buy its bulb and plant these in their garden. This is an easy and quick way to get these flowers to grow in your small garden.
Climate conditions during cultivation and before can affect the growth rate of the bulb of the daffodil per year.
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