5 Reasons Why Your Daffodils Aren’t Flowering

For gardeners who want an easy-to-grow flower that refines their capacity for patience, daffodils are perfect.

You plant them before the ground freezes in the fall or winter, and then you’re rewarded in the spring with the most cheerful, nodding faces.

Unless… you aren’t. Perennial daffodils (Narcissus spp.) are some of the first blooms of the spring season, opening their buds as early as January or February in warmer climes, and as late as April or May in frigid areas like Alaska, where I live.

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But what if just the long, pointed leaves grow, and no flowers bloom at all?

Or what if the first leaves never even poke out of the ground?

What’s gone wrong? Can you save your daffodils? Or is there at least something you can do for next time?

In this guide, we’ll tell all.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

Daffodils are members of the genus Narcissus, which is part of the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllidaceae family. I dare you to say that sentence five times in a row, fast.

Other plants in this long-beloved subfamily include snowdrops and Belladonna lilies. And I’m sure you’re acquainted with other members of the overarching family, Amaryllidaceae: onions, garlic, and alliums (subfamily Allioideae), as well as agapanthus (subfamily Agapanthoideae).

In short, the daffodil – also called “narcissus” or “jonquil,” especially in old English literature – is in good company.

You can learn more about how to grow these yellow, white, orange, and even pink flowers in our growing guide.

We gardeners almost always grow them from bulbs, since in order to grow them from