It has been said that daffodils are the most popular hardy bulbs in the South, and often can be found at the site of an abandoned home or across fields (Alabama & Mississippi Gardener's Guide).  This must be true, for they can be seen growing along the sides of the roads and even in ditches.  One reason that daffodils are such popular flowers is because they seem to tell us that Spring is on its' way.  It is cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons in south Alabama, and these temps give the daffodils the courage to poke their green stems through the oak leaves and pine straw that have kept them protected during the Winter.  Notice the brave bulb at  the bottom of the picture; he seems to be stronger than the old dead oak leaf. 

 ADVICE FOR GROWING BULBS

*  Pick the right bulb for your site.  Most bulbs need full sun to bloom.

* Prepare beds correctly at planting time. 

*Most bulbs require good drainage, meaning they need to be in a site with sandy loam soil, on a slope, in a raised bed, or in a container.

*Mix a commercial, slow release bulb food into the soil before planting and reapply every year or two.

*Always remember to plant the bulbs tips up!

*Buy new bulbs early.

* Plant bulbs with the tips two or three times as deep as the bulbs are big around.

*Mulch the bulbs in the Fall.  (Alabama & Mississippi Gardener's Guide)

Bulbs just beginning to bloom.

Daffodils need little care, other than a light feeding in the Fall.  Do not feed in the Spring.  Also, after the bulbs bloom do not cut the foliage.  Wait until the foliage has turned yellow before cutting.  A good way to make the beds look better during this time is to hide the foliage under the mulch.  Remember that deer do not like daffodils which is an extra plus for the nice Spring plant.   

Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).