A familiar relic in old gardens from Williamsburg to Yakima, ‘Stella’ is a graceful, enduring flower with a crinkled cup and wavy petals of primrose to white. Until recently it was widely mis-identified in the US as ‘Sir Watkin’. (please help us set the record straight), but there’s no doubt about this: ‘Stella’ is terrific. 2W-Y, 16-18”, zones 5-8S/10WC, from Louisiana. Chart to compare.

One of the first winners of the ADS’s top honor, the Wister Award, ‘Sweetness’ has been called “the best daffodil for the South” — and it’s just as good north through zone 6. It’s vigorous and refined, with a fluted cup, thick, weather-proof petals, and the intoxicating fragrance of its jonquil ancestors. 7 Y-Y, 16-18”, zones 6-8bS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Orchids or doves? With 2-3 nodding flowers per stem and ivory petals that swoop dramatically back from the cup, ‘Thalia’ may well remind you of both. It’s a strong, dependable grower North and South, the oldest garden form of the wild N. triandrus, and a true classic. 5 W-W, 14-16”, zones 4-8bS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

This sweet little teddy-bear daffodil has grown wild for centuries on the coast of Wales, and its early blooms were once rushed to London to be sold at Covent Garden. Its trumpet is shorter than most wild daffodils (see Lent lily), adding to its pudgy charm. 13 Y-Y, 8-10”, zones 5-8bS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

“Pre-eminent” and “breath-taking,” Scott Ogden raves about this “refined, modern Campernelle” in Garden Bulbs for the South. It’s “stunningly fragrant,” he says, and – maybe best of all – a few bulbs “will multiply tenfold in three or four years.” With 2-3 neatly rounded flowers per stem, its mid-late blooms extend the joyful jonquil season. 7 Y-Y, 18-20”, zones 6-8S/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

“Generally knowne everywhere,” wrote herbalist John Gerard in 1597 about this fragrant wildflower he called Primrose Peerless. Its many folk names today include Loving Couples, Cemetery Ladies, and April Beauty. It has two blooms per stem, white with tiny citron cups, and it’s wonderfully late-blooming. Formerly N. biflorus, 13 W-Y, 12-14”, zones 6-8bS/10WC, from Texas. Chart to compare.

This Jazz Age classic has long, rippling petals of primrose-to-cream flaring jauntily out of a ruffled center of orange and gold. Hardy north through zone 5, it’s especially well-loved in the South because, unlike many other doubles, it opens reliably even there. 4 Y-O, mid-season, 18-20”, zones 5-8S/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Aka ‘Telamonius Plenus’ , this is “the most important of all doubles” (A.M. Kirby, 1907). It’ s also the double most often found at old homesites, multiplying without care. And it’s the most confusing! In its first year or a perfect spot, its doubling is neatly confined by the trumpet. Most years, though, it all explodes into a wild froth of green and gold. See what we mean and learn more here. 4 Y-Y, 14-16”, zones 4-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Since the Middle Ages, mace-carrying vergers have led the grandest processions, hence the name of this majestic daffodil which looks like a pheasant’s-eye but blooms weeks earlier. With stainless petals and a cup as brilliant as a cathedral window, it’s a daffodil to look forward to year after year after year. 3W-R, 18-20”, zones 4-7bS/9WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

This “regal beauty” and “good doer” is “the daffodil I now prefer to all others” – so wrote Mrs. Francis King in 1921, and since she was a founder of the Garden Club of America and author of nine popular garden books, that’s high praise indeed. With sparkling petals and a ruffled yellow cup, ‘White Lady’ is old-fashioned but full of life. 3W-Y, 16-18”, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.