Winner of the Wister Award, the ADS’s highest honor, this Cornish beauty blooms vigorously from Canada to the Gulf. The Van Becks recommend it in Daffodils in Florida, and The Mobile Press-Register’s Bill Finch calls it “a perfectly sculpted block of butter.” Hot or cold, it’s terrific! 2 Y-Y, 16-18 inches, zones 5-9aS/11WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

Prettier than any gull we’ve ever seen, this free-flowering Victorian classic has pristine white petals that recall wings, sails, or the sweeping arms of a windmill. Its short canary cup is fleetingly edged with apricot. For best color, protect from full sun. 3 W-Y, 14-18 inches, zones 5-7S/9WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

This is the fine old daffodil we used to sell as ‘Sir Watkin’. That’s what US experts called it when we first started collecting old daffodils in the 1970s. But our doubts grew. It doesn’t match old photos well, and UK and Dutch experts grow a different daffodil as ‘Sir Watkin’. Eventually, growing them side-by-side convinced us this is ‘Stella’.
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          But know this: with a crinkled golden cup and wavy petals of primrose to white, ‘Stella’ is a terrific daffodil no matter what her name. 2W-Y, 16-18 inches, 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 neat, fluted cup, thick, weather-proof petals, and the intoxicating fragrance of its jonquil ancestors. 7 Y-Y, 16-18 inches, 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. With two or three blossoms per stem, 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 inches, 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 inches, 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 inches, 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. Formerly N. biflorus, 13 W-Y, 12-14 inches, zones 6-8bS/10WC, from Texas. Chart to compare.

A.k.a. ‘Telamonius Plenus’, this is “the most important of all doubles” according to expert A.M. Kirby in 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. To see what we mean and learn more, click here. 4 Y-Y, 14-16 inches, 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 you’ll look forward to every spring. 3W-R, 18-20 inches, zones 4-7bS/9WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.