Common Daffodil

How to grow Common Daffodil

Written by Steve Davis · Last reviewed 21 July 2026 · Written for UK gardens · How we research our guidance

Planting

Plant bulbs in early autumn, roughly three times their own depth. This is the daffodil to use for naturalising in grass or a woodland edge - it is smaller and more subdued than garden hybrids and settles in far better.

Pruning

Remove spent flowers if convenient, but leave foliage uncut for at least six weeks after flowering. Mowing grass too early is the usual reason naturalised daffodils stop flowering.

Propagation

Divide clumps in early summer as the leaves yellow. It also sets seed and will slowly colonise suitable ground, though seedlings take several years to reach flowering size.

Pests and diseases

Narcissus bulb fly is the main problem, laying at the neck of the bulb in late spring; damage shows as blind or weak growth the following year. Slugs and narcissus basal rot can affect bulbs on wet, poorly drained ground.

Value to wildlife

One of the earlier nectar sources for queen bumblebees emerging in spring.

Notes

Buy from a supplier who states the bulbs are cultivated rather than wild-collected. Feed with a general fertiliser after flowering if clumps are in grass and competing for nutrients.

This guidance was researched and written by GardenDecoded — see our editorial policy for how guides are checked and reviewed.

Other names for this plant

These names have all been used for Narcissus pseudonarcissus but are no longer the accepted name. You may still meet them on old labels, in books, or in nursery catalogues.

Others in Narcissus