Stand Alone Pages

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Narcissus for the Mojave Desert

Q. I accidentally cultivated up a bunch of daffodil bulbs. When is the best time to replant them in Las Vegas? They show no signs of green.

A. If these daffodils have been in the ground in your landscape for several years then chances are you can just replant them and they will continue to flower next spring and probably every year thereafter. If they did not flower last year, or they flowered erratically (some years you got beautiful displays and others were disappointing), then you should read the rest of this information. 

To get consistent flowering year after year, you may need to put them in the refrigerator through the rest of the winter to get consistent flowering. You can also opt to buy "prechilled bulbs". But be forewarned: this refrigerator treatment may need to be done each year to get reliable blooming. This is also true of tulips and some other very popular cold climate bulbs. 

Replant them on the east side of the house so that they get morning sun but are protected from late afternoon heat. Amend the soil with about 20 to 30% compost when planting. Never cover them with rock. Woodchips are okay but not rock. They will not grow well in total shade or in hot bright locations. They will also not grow well in rock.

It takes the right variety of daffodil for it to bloom every year here. Local nurseries rely on their suppliers to sell them the right daffodils for this climate. Las Vegas, climate-wise, is halfway between a tropical climate (think Hawaii) and a cold climate (think Minnesota). Las Vegas lies in the northern belt of climates termed loosely “semitropical”: Cold winters to the north and warm winters to the south.  It lies in the transition zone between the two. Did you see flowers from them before? If you did, then just replant them.

There is never any advertising on my blog. It runs off of donations so here is stuff I found helpful.

Here is another article about this topic.

Here is a source for daffodils that will do well in warm climates. Just enter your zip code.

A second source of bulbs for warm climates.

A third source of bulbs for warm climates.

4 comments:

  1. I am not sure how to search your site for this question, so here goes: How well does rhubarb do in the desert? When and where is the best time and place to plant? And how much water would it like at least the first year?

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    1. Its okay if you cant do it or figure it out. If you post a question, I will see it from here. I have not had much luck with rhubarb at the University orchard in the past but I admit it was not a focus of ours. Someone planted it in a raised bed and if it made it, okay, if not that was okay too. I have heard that it is a problem in warm reasons because of chilling (winter cold) but I also have heard some people got it to work. If it is going to work I would plant it in heavily composted soil on the east side of a wall or building so it gets some protection from afternoon sun. It likes full sun so planting in the shade may not work. Its worth a shot and let me know if it works for you.

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    2. https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2013/02/rhubarb-in-hot-desert.html

      https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2017/05/rhubarb-growing-in-hot-desert.html

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    3. https://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2011/10/q.html

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