Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Narcissus
Tiny paper white flowers are my snowflakes in my Winters Green design
Common name
The white variety is referred to as paper white, the yellow is known as a daffodil.
Origin
South Western Europe
Varieties
There are 12 main shapes of Narcissus.
Colors
mainly yellow but also white, cream, pink, and orange
Vase life
Seven to twelve days with proper care. Narcissus gives off a latex juice that is poisonous to all other flowers. Avoid arranging them with other flowers and change the water regularly. If you really, really want to arrange daffodils with other flowers make sure you condition them separately, in special daffodil flower food before adding it to a mixed vase. Again change the water regularly.
Scent
Paper whites have a heavy scent (not recommended for small spaces or dinner table arrangement) but the strength of the scent varies
Uses
Country garden designs also nice as a hand tied. Break up the clusters of paper whites as “blossoms”
Conditioning
Because the growers pull the flowers from the bulbs when harvesting you will notice a white end on all the stems. This white area is very firm and prevent the stem from loosing moisture but also from taking up moisture. Cut the stem at an angle just above the white area. Place the stems in cold water to condition. To open the flowers quicker you can condition the flowers in warmer water. Add flower food formulated for bulb flowers to the water. Remember the daffodil latex sap mentioned above, so don't forget to condition the flowers separate to all other flowers and replace the water regularly. Only after really good conditioning can you add daffodils to other flowers in an arrangement.
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