'King Alfred Select' Daffodil Bulbs

King Alfred Select Daffodil Bulbs

King Alfred Select daffodils are the "original" yellow trumpet variety. They have classic bright golden flowers, with open, frilled trumpets heralding the return of spring through gardens, roadside verges and under hedges.

Alone, or in our Naturalising Mix, King Alfred, which holds the RHS Award of Garden merit, is a super daffodil for creating large drifts in lawns, borders, wooded areas or containers. With a pedigree of over 100 years this charming yellow flowering bulb is sure to delight gardeners. See the full range of narcissus and daffodil bulbs we have available for sale.

• Group 1: Trumpet Daffodil
• Height 40-60cm
• Spread 10-15cm
• Single heads
• Mid-green leaves
• Lightly scented
• 2-5 years to mature

Plant Care

Plant bulbs in autumn (August-November) at about twice their own depth, in full sun or partial shade. They can be planted in clumps, for a more natural look but avoid planting very closely or you may inhibit flowering. Keep the bulbs around 10cm apart for best results. They do multiply underground so the gaps will soon fill in.

They prefer well-drained soils and full sun (flowers will tend to face into the sunshine) but are very adaptable and will tolerate most situations apart from boggy, wet soils and shade.

You can carry out deadheading when the flowers are finished, but they'll grow better in subsequent years if you allow the leaves to die back fully before cutting them.

For container or indoor planting, put the bulbs in pots at a depth of around 5cm in a loam-based compost in early autumn. They can stay outdoors in a cold frame until shoots appear, then grow on in a greenhouse. As soon as the buds begin to open you can bring them indoors.

The main enemy of daffodils is waterlogged ground. They can also be attacked by slugs as well as the more obscure problems of Narcissus yellow stripe virus, large narcissus fly and various kinds of eelworm.

Daffodil sap is poisonous and can irritate skin, so handle all Narcissus with care. Thinning out clumps as they spread over the years will help maintain a dramatic display.

History & Trivia

The original Narcissus 'King Alfred' was developed in Newton Poppleford, Devon, starting in the 1890s. Retired solicitor John Kendall cross-pollinated Narcissus 'Emperor' and 'Maximus' before his death in 1890.

Local gardener Walter Hill then developed the seedlings while working for Kendall's son Percy, who owned a market garden in Newton Poppleford and a florist shop in Sidmouth.

Named after the Alfred, King of Wessex and the Anglo-Saxons (848-899), it commemorates the millennium of his death.
At its first showing, it won a Royal Horticultural Society First Class Certificate as "by far the best large yellow trumpet."

After Percy Kendall died, Hill took over the business and shipped large quantities to London's Covent Garden market each spring.

King Alfred became an ancestor of most modern yellow trumpet daffodil varieties, including the improved 'King Alfred Select' for sale here.
The original 'King Alfred' is no longer grown commercially, so wherever you see a daffodil sold as 'King Alfred', you'll know it's really a 'King Alfred Select', or another descendant such as 'Dutch Master', which have the same brilliant flower colour and structure but a bit larger, and more robust growth than their venerable ancestor.