LADYBUG: EARLY BLOOMING DAFFODILS OFFER HINT OF SPRING LONG BEFORE ITS ARRIVAL

Those of you who have been reading my column over the years know my very favorite flower is the daffodil, and if I could have only one flower that would be my choice. There is nothing quite as exciting as those little bright yellow February Gold peeping out in late February, sometimes through snow, or Tete-a-Tete blooming only six inches from the ground in early March.

Call them daffodils or narcissus because the names are interchangeable. Both refer to the entire group of flowers you have heard called narcissus, jonquils or daffodils. Some have long trumpets, while others have small cups, bloom with a single flower, are double, or may bloom in clusters.

Most daffodils are yellow, or they may be pure white, some near pink, or they may have color combinations of yellow and white, or pink and white. The name jonquil refers to one special kind of daffodil with slender tubular leaves and small yellow flowers that are intensively fragrant.

In April 1994, we attended a Garden Writers' Symposium in Williamsburg, Va., where Brent and Becky Heath, operators and owners of the internationally known Daffodil Mart in Gloucester, Va., spoke and also had large vats of freshly cut daffodils for viewing and admiring. I was so taken with this display that I missed the luncheon to view and study this vast display of my favorite flower.

This husband and wife team has published a book on this, the most popular perennial, called "Daffodils for American Gardens." Prior to this book written by and for North American Gardeners, all our information on daffodils came from British horticulturists.

Brent Heath is a third generation commercial grower of narcissus, who began his career at an early age working on his parents' farm. His grandfather, Charles Heath, who moved to the Virginia area in 1900, began selling the bulbs to local farmers. This adventure attracted a Dutch firm, which later had around 600 acres of bulbs and employed several hundred local people.

The company used to grow almost all their bulbs on the farm in Gloucester, but within the past 20 years, they have established working relationships with more than 100 of the finest quality specialty bulb growers in Holland, England and Israel, besides the United States.

The Daffodil Mart works closely with a number of public gardens and universities where trial gardens and research projects are going on which relate to the bulb industry. Brent Heath also gives horticultural lectures and workshops throughout the United States.

Presently they have a warehouse in Virginia, which employees about 30 part-time workers, another in Holland, a network of more than 100 growers who produce the majority of their bulbs, a grower in North Carolina, who handles the bulk of the shipping, and they also import bulbs from growers in England and Israel.

"Daffodils for American Gardens" tells everything the gardener needs to know to successfully grow daffodils, from planting a few in the yard and forcing paper whites in indoor pots to naturalizing a woodland and developing prize hybrids. There are timely tips, planting tools, flower arranging, shows and exhibitions, with 300 full color photographs.

Their book lists Display Daffodil Gardens, including Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis. Brent and Becky Heath work closely with many of them, showing their collections. Daffodils are classed into 12 divisions, as listed by the Royal Horticulture Society of England. The book describes the difference of each division and the many varieties under each. It also tells the history of the daffodil industry. Bet you did not know that Great Britain has led the world in the creation of hybrids and that the majority of the 25,000 daffodil cultivars have been developed there.

The book states the best time to plant daffodils is usually around the date of the first frost when the trees begin to lose their leaves. Most large bulbs should be planted a depth of 6 to 8 inches, medium sized bulbs 3 to 6 inches, and miniatures 2 to 3 inches.

For years we have been told that bonemeal is the ideal fertilizer, and we have always mixed it into the soil when planting any bulbs. Now, according to the this book, they point out that research at North Carolina State University indicated that bonemeal has little nitrogen, almost no potassium and only a fair amount of phosphorus and calcium. "Think of bonemeal for bulbs as comparable to your own consumption of broccoli -- it's nutritious but to a complete source of nutrients," the authors write.

"Holland Bulb Booster is an excellent slow-release fertilizer formulated for tulips and members of the lily family. It's fine for daffodils, too, if one is willing to supplement it with extra potash."

Daffodils for American Gardens is available at book stores or from Elliot and Clark Publishing Co., P.O. Box 21038, Washington, D.C. 20009. It retails for $24.95

~Mary Blue is a resident of Cape Girardeau and an avid gardener.