Comparing Seed-Grown and Bought Daffodils
Several years ago I grew a batch of daffodils from seed. Growing daffodils this way requires patience, as they can take several years before producing their first flowers, but eventually they rewarded me with clusters of beautiful and scented blooms.
Around Easter time I was given several daffodil bulbs that had originally been store bought but the cultivar names have since been lost. When I asked, I was simply told they were нарциссы, the Russian word commonly used for daffodils. They could have been daffodils, or true jonquils, or a hybrid between the two. I wasn't too bothered, I like daffodils and was glad to be included in the community enough to be gifted some bulbs.
When these bulbs flowered this season, I noticed that several looked remarkably similar to my seed-grown plants. That gave me the perfect opportunity to compare them side by side.
Of course, some characteristics are influenced by growing conditions. The number of flowers on each stem, stem height, and even flower size can vary somewhat depending on soil, weather, and how established the bulbs are. Rather than focusing on those traits, I wanted to compare the characteristics that seemed more consistent, including flower shape, petal form, and (this one is super important to me) fragrance.
Many modern commercial daffodil cultivars have been selected primarily for flower size, colour, uniformity, or garden performance rather than scent. Seed-grown plants (depending on their parentage) can sometimes retain or express stronger fragrance. My seed grown daffodils, or at least the ones I have not culled, are all highly fragrant.
Why Grow Daffodils From Seed?
Growing daffodils from seed is not commonly done by home growers as it is not the fastest way to produce flowers and it takes more skill and patience than simply planting a bulb.
A bulb division produces an identical copy of the parent plant, while a seedling is a completely new combination of genetics. Most seedlings will be nice, some may be sub-standard, occasionally you find a plant with a particularly interesting combination of traits.
I experiment growing many things from seed and have developed a lot of new and unique varieties that are better suited to my needs. Sometimes I do this because I am specifically trying to breed something with a desired set of traits, sometimes to learn more about the genetics and biology of the plant, and sometimes purely because I have never grown that plant from seed before.
White Daffodil Comparison: Seed-Grown vs Bought Variety
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| Seed grown daffodil vs bought daffodil variety |
Bought Daffodil Variety: small white flowers
Quick overview:- Clusters of pure white flowers
- Light, pleasant fragrance
- Rounded petals give the flowers a softer appearance
- Attractive display, but the scent is fairly subtle
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| White daffodil bought variety has rounded petals |
Seed-Grown White Daffodil
Quick overview:
- Clusters of pure white flowers
- Noticeably stronger fragrance
- Longer, more pointed petals create a star-like appearance
- Overall, the flowers appear slightly more delicate despite their similar size
From a distance, my seed-grown white daffodil looks similar to the bought variety.
It also produces clusters of pure white flowers, but the fragrance is noticeably stronger and carries much further through the garden.
The petals of my seed grown daffodils are narrower and more pointed, giving the flowers a slightly star-shaped appearance rather than the rounded look of the bought variety. At first glance they could easily be mistaken for the same variety, but seeing them side by side makes the subtle differences much easier to notice.
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| Seed grown daffodil on left has pointier petals |
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| My seed grown daffodils on left, bought variety on right |
Yellow Daffodil Comparison: Seed-Grown vs Bought Variety
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| Seed grown daffodils on left, bought variety on right |
Bought Daffodil Variety: clusters of yellow flowers
Quick overview:
- Clusters of yellow flowers
- Stronger colours
- Larger flowers with larger cup
- Strong, pleasant fragrance
This cultivar produces clusters of cheerful yellow flowers that are slightly larger in size and form to my seed-grown yellow daffodil. The cup was larger, and the colour was deeper and stronger than my seed grown plant. Interestingly, the cup opened pale yellow before gradually deepening to an orange-yellow as the flower matured.
The blooms have a pleasant fragrance that is noticeably stronger than the white cultivar I compared earlier. It is an attractive plant that flowers beautifully and adds a bright splash of colour to the garden. If I had paid for these myself, I wouldn't have been disappointed.
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| Larger cup and deeper colour in store bought (below) |
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| Seed-grown daffodil on left is slightly smaller |
Seed-Grown Yellow Daffodil
Quick overview:
- Large clusters of smaller yellow flowers
- Slightly less intense colouration
- Smaller, more open cup
- Very strong, pleasant fragrance
- High sentimental value
My seed-grown yellow daffodil is a sibling to the white seed-grown plant, having come from the same batch of seed. This is the first daffodil I grew from seed to maturity and carries a lot of sentimental value for me.
Its flowers are similar in size and shape to the yellow bought cultivar, making them difficult to distinguish at a glance. A closer look reveals these flowers were smaller, and the cup was smaller and more open than the store bought variety. The colour looked similar from a distance, but when side by side the colour of these was less intense than the bought variety.
While the size, shape, and colour are all slightly different, the biggest difference is the fragrance. While the bought cultivar smells pleasant, the seed-grown plant has a remarkably strong scent that is obvious even from a distance.
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| Seed-grown daffodil compared with the bought variety |
My Thoughts on Seed Grown vs Bought Daffodil Comparison
Growing daffodils from seed is a slow process, but I found it fascinating that the resulting flowers were not identical to the parents.
While the overall appearance was very similar to commercial varieties, the stronger fragrance and more pointed petals of my white flowered variety, and the more petite flowers and strong fragrance of my yellow, gave my seed-grown while flowered plants a character of their own. It also serves as a reminder that seedlings are genetically unique, so even when they resemble their parents, they can still develop their own combination of traits.
I cut a bunch to put on my kitchen table, and it filled almost my entire house with fragrance. I intend to keep growing all of these varieties, but if I only had space for one I would go with the stronger scent.
Of all the daffodils in this comparison, the yellow forms, both the bought cultivar and the seed-grown plant, were noticeably more fragrant than either of the white-flowered daffodils. In my extremely small test both seed-grown daffodils had more fragrance than similar looking bought varieties.
This is an interesting observation because it suggests that flower colour alone doesn't predict fragrance, but in my small collection the yellow daffodils were consistently the most strongly scented. Whether that's due to genetics (linked genes), parentage, reduction in viral load, or simply the cultivars I happen to be growing, it's something I'll be paying more attention to as I grow more daffodils from seed.
This isn't a scientific trial, just one gardener comparing a handful of plants, but it has made me even more interested in raising future generations of daffodils from seed to see what other surprises appear. While some seed grown daffodils will be better than commercial cultivars, others will be worse, and all of them will be genetically unique.
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| Bought daffodil used in this comparison |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you grow daffodils from seed?
Yes, but seedlings usually take several years before flowering.
Are seed-grown daffodils the same as the parent plant?
No. Unlike bulbs, seeds produce genetically unique plants. They may look similar to one or both parents, or they may look completely different to both parents.
Do seed-grown daffodils smell better?
Some may have stronger fragrance, some may have lower or no fragrance, it depends on genetics and the individual plant.
How long do daffodils take to grow from seed?
Usually mine take 3 or 4 years before flowering. Some can be sooner, others can take longer, it depends on both genetics and growing conditions.
Can I develop my own variety of daffodil?
Yes! This takes patience. Growing daffodils from seed creates genetically unique plants. You can select your favourite seedling as your new variety. Once you select a seed-grown daffodil you like, you can allow the bulb to divide. As the bulb divides it will produce clones that you can keep in your garden, share around, or pass on as heirlooms that you developed.
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| Seed grown vs bought daffodils |
Related Articles
Daffodils are a fascinating group of plants with a surprising amount of variation. When grown from seed, even old heirloom varieties show a surprising amount of variation. Here are some of my other articles exploring different daffodil varieties, comparisons, growing from seed, and observations from my own garden.
- Growing daffodils from seed - first attempt
- Daffodils from seed - sibling comparison
- Growing nerine from seed
- Growing Aloe vera from seed
- Daffodil comparison of varieties - which one should you grow
- Jonquil vs Daffodil - what is the difference
- Spring flowering bulbs
- My plant catalogue - where I occasionally have bulbs, plants, and perennial vegetables available
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