Daffodils with Jason Delaney

Season 4 is here, and we're kicking it off with a bang - Jason Delaney from PHS Daffodils stops by to chat about everything daffodils! Jason specializes in classic, historic, and novel varieties for garden & exhibition. 

I got to ask Jason about his background in flower growing - which started at a very young age in rural Illinois, and continued on into a long career with the Missouri Botanical Garden where he oversaw the flower bulb collection and travelled the world on plant collecting expeditions - to places like Siberia, Morocco, and the Republic of Georgia, looking for plants that are extremely endangered or threatened.

Jason has had a life-long love of daffodils, the harbingers of spring. He grew his collection out on his family farm in Flora, Illinois, where he lifts, divides, and replants by hand every 3-5 years - it is a true labor of love. Jason shares amazing tips on planting and growing daffodils, including excellent companion plants, and discusses his breeding and growing program and his favorite daffodil characteristics. He is an absolute wealth of knowledge, with the best podcast voice imaginable, you guys are gonna love this one!

Jason says that if you take nothing else from this episode, he wants you to PLANT YOUR DAFFODIL BULBS 6-8 INCHES DEEP! If planted this way, daffodils can live for hundreds of years. Plant for permanence!

To purchase bulbs from PHS Daffodils, sign up for the newsletter on their website (at the bottom of the "Contact" page), and follow along on Instagram to see photos and get the up-to-date info on their plant sales - which will likely be in late May-early June this year. In addition to daffodils, Jason will also be offering day lilies from his vast collection.

Subscribe to the Flower Friends pod wherever you get your podcasts, and follow along on Instagram at @flowerfriendspodcast and @growgirlseattle. And call in to our new Flower Friends hotline to leave a message that might get played on the pod: 7313-FLOWER, or 731-335-6937.