When to Plant Daffodils

The rule: cool soil, then several weeks of rooting

Daffodils go in during fall for two reasons. First, the bulbs need a long cold spell before they will flower. Arkansas Extension puts it at roughly 10 to 16 weeks below 45 to 50°F. Second, a bulb has to grow a root system before the ground freezes, so that it can feed the shoot and flower in late winter and spring.

The signal to start is soil temperature. Rutgers and South Dakota State both wait until the soil is below about 60°F. Wisconsin uses an even cooler mark of 50 to 55°F and keeps planting until a couple of weeks before the ground freezes. South Dakota State’s rule of thumb is to have bulbs in the ground four to six weeks before freeze-up.

In terms of frost dates, that works out to the window in the dates for your zone above: from about six weeks before the average first fall frost up to about the frost itself. For daffodils, sources favor the earlier part of that window. Clemson plants them before other spring bulbs, and Purdue calls October the best month in Indiana.

Timing by region

Upper Midwest and Northern Plains. South Dakota State plants from mid-September to mid-October. The sooner the bulbs go in within that span, the more roots they make before the ground locks up.

Midwest and Northeast. Purdue prefers October. Illinois Extension aims for four to six weeks before the ground freezes, which in Illinois falls around mid-October to early November. Rutgers plants from mid-September through October in New Jersey, and Penn State uses September and October in western Pennsylvania, before the first frost.

The South. Clemson plants daffodils in October or November in South Carolina, and Texas A&M AgriLife plants spring bulbs in San Antonio in late October and November once the weather cools. In North Florida, the UF/IFAS gardening calendar lists narcissus for September.

Pacific Northwest and the interior West. Oregon State finds October and November ideal in most of western Oregon, with planting possible into mid-December while the soil can still be worked. In colder central and eastern Oregon, it moves planting to late September through October so the bulbs get two to three weeks of root growth before the ground freezes.

Warm-winter areas. In zones 9 and warmer, choose types that need little cold, such as tazettas, paperwhites and jonquils. NC State plants tazettas about six weeks before the first freeze. Water through bloom if the winter is dry.

What happens if you plant too early or too late

Too early. There is no advantage to rushing bulbs into soil that is still warm from summer. If your bulbs arrive during a hot spell, Purdue suggests keeping them in storage and planting once the weather cools. Clemson stores bulbs below 60°F until planting. Don’t store them near ripening fruit, because ethylene gas from the fruit can keep the bulbs from blooming.

Too late. Bulbs planted just before freeze-up have little time to root. They still do better in the ground than in a garage over winter. Illinois Extension says any time before the ground freezes is acceptable. Purdue recommends a 2-inch winter mulch for late plantings to slow freezing and prevent heaving, and to keep shoots from emerging too early in warm, south-facing spots.

Missed fall entirely. Arkansas Extension advises planting stored bulbs as soon as the ground can be worked in late winter or spring rather than holding them another year, because by next fall they will have dried out.

Forcing daffodils indoors

For winter flowers indoors, pot bulbs from October through the end of November and keep them at 35 to 48°F for at least 12 to 13 weeks. Then move them to a bright, cool room, where they bloom in three to four weeks. Paperwhites skip the cold period entirely. For depth, spacing and care, see how to grow daffodils.