Daffy

Thanks to gardeninacity, I am now reading Home Ground by Allen Lacy. The first two essays are about daffodils, which I love but not to the same extent that Lacy does. Years ago (ten?) I planted "naturalizing" daffodils in the corner of my yard euphemistically referred to as "the meadow". I think "naturalizing" is also a euphemism, for "these bulbs will multiply like crazy" as each bulb now manifests itself as a giant clump of daffs. "Naturalizing" is also a euphemism for "you will never know exactly what kind of daffodils these are." There are about half dozen varieties that bloom in succession, all of them interesting, so I'm not really complaining.

Last spring the idea of digging and dividing those clumps occurred to me, so I went around assigning numbers to the different varieties and marking them with wooden tongue depressors, markers that quickly disappeared and rotted away. I didn't know what I was going to do with what would probably amount to hundreds of bulbs anyway. I assume I am prevented by law from selling them. Planting the extras in my hard clay soil is not very appealing. I could try giving them away, but it seems most of my neighbors like their flower beds neat and tidy (when there are flower beds at all). If all else fails, there is the compost pile.

The only reason I feel compelled to dig and divide my daffs is they seem to be producing fewer blooms, and we can't have that. Maybe this spring (and every spring hereafter?) I will label just one variety, dig and divide those clumps, share what I can, save a few for forcing, and just not worry about the rest. Unless you have other ideas?