daffodils in mixed bouquet?

18 years ago

I think I read somewhere that daffodils and narcissus should not be mixed with other flowers in bouquets (in a vase) because they are toxic and actually kill off the other flowers. If I remember right their "poison" gets into the water and is soaked up by the others' stems. . .

Is this true?

blooms

Featured Answer

tulips91

18 years ago

Daffodil sap contains calcium oxalate crystals, which has its pros & cons. It keeps animals from eating the bulbs, as frogsongstudio guessed. It won't hurt other plants in the garden, since the sap is kept contained in the bulb (assuming the bulbs are healthy - if there is gooey sap leaking all over the place when you plant them, that's another story). When the blooms are cut or picked, the sap starts flowing. Calcium oxalate is poisonous to other cut flowers, which is why daffodils should NOT be mixed with other plant material when the sap is flowing. However, they can be mixed with other flowers if they treated as patwood suggested; soaking the daffodils alone overnight. The only thing I will add to that is that the sap will start flowing again if the stems are re-cut.
Happy Spring!
-Tulip

Comments (6)

frogsongstudio
18 years ago
Hi Blooms,

I just purchased over 400 daffodil bulbs for the reason that they are indeed toxic. I bought them to (hopefully) repel the gophers that have been eating everything else in my garden and will be surrounding everything with daffs and alliums. Sort of like a daffodil moat. Whether it works or not, I don't know but it's worth a try.

I can't tell you though about placing them in a vase with other flowers. I would hope they aren't toxic to other plants or they might kill everything else growing in the flowerbed.

I'd go ahead and make two bouquets. Stick some daffodils in with one bouquet and none in the other bouquet and see if there is a difference in how long the bouquet lasts.
caroldiane
18 years ago
Blooms, separating daffodils and narcissus would prove to be somewhat a hard thing to do since they are the same thing.

Mind you, there slight differences to "jonquils" which is another daffodil....er...narcissus....but called any way you wish.

Tulips should not be placed in the same vase with cut daffodils. One would kill the other.
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pitimpinai
18 years ago
The gooey sap of Narcissi supposedly would clog the cut tip of other flower stem thus preventing water absorption. According to several flower arranging authors, once the Narcissus stem(s) have been soaked until the gooey sap has stopped, the N. can be used in arrangements with other flowers.
patwood
18 years ago
This is a quote from a book I have on cut flower production:

"
Do not harden freshly cut tulip flowers with freshly cut daffodils (Narcissus)! Freshly cut daffodil flowers exude a sap which contains chemicals that are toxic to cut tulips. Therefore, all containers used for cut daffodil flowers should be marked and should not be used for cut tulips.

For immediate use of freshly cut tulip flowers with freshly cut daffodil flowers, two systems are available:

1. Place the cut daffodil flowers in water overnight and then rinse the stemps prior to use with the cut tulips.

2. Use 20-25 drops of bleach per gallon of water. Place the cut daffodil flowers in the solution for a minimum of one hour and a maximum of six hours. Subsequently, rinse the stems and use the flowers with the cut tulips.
"
macnang
18 years ago
I assume this would apply to daisies as well? I was thinking about mixing daisies from the florist with my daffodils in vases for baby shower centerpieces. I guess I should use the bleach solution just in case. Thanks for the warning!