Narcissus Rip van Winkle: variety description, planting and care, growing features

Rip van Winkle - the very name of the flower "narcissus" already refers to Greek myths. And the name was given to the variety by a person, probably a reader, in love with poetry, history, theater. Because this is the name of the hero of one of the German legends and the short story by W. Irving, popular in the 19th century, which was embodied in performances and films.

Description and features

Rip van Winkle was created in 1884. The author is probably forgotten. But the popularity of the flower is huge. They also call him a tiny or dwarf narcissus.

And it looks like this:

• terry variety;
• delicate fragrance;
• 15-20 cm high;
• warm yellow;
• the flower is large, up to 5 cm, resembles a dandelion and is sometimes collected in a brush;
• looks like a chrysanthemum with numerous sharp petals.

And more wonderful properties of narcissus Rip van Winkle:

• undemanding to soil;
• bulbs winter well in open ground;
• he is practically not afraid of diseases and pests;
• quite hardy for most Russian territory and northern Scandinavia.

Designers recommend this variety for alpine slides, rocky gardens, in groups with hyacinths, low tulips, small bulbs, which are also planted in a heap.

How to plant

Choosing bulbs

We do not always buy bulbs at exhibitions and in specialized stores, so when buying it is important to pay attention to:

• the onion was strong;
• bottom and neck dry;
• scales - smooth, pure brown or golden;
• there was no mold, stains, other damage;
• and even without a suspicious smell.

Selected strong bulbs are treated with a fungicide solution.

Choosing a seat

Whether at your summer cottage, near your house or the entrance of a high-rise building, you will plant Rip van Winkle daffodil bulbs, you will have to take into account the same thing:

• for abundant flowering, the sunny side is preferable, but flowers fade in direct sunlight;
• windless;
• not bad if there are rare shrubs nearby for symbolic shading;
• the soil should not be dense: if clayey, it would be nice to add sand, peat;
• waterlogged or even waterlogged soil will simply destroy the bulbs.

Rip van Winkle is often purchased for growing indoors.

Date of planting

Many are wondering if it is better to plant daffodils in spring or autumn? Still, autumn is more correct.

When planting in the spring, the plant will not have enough time to take root. And this will affect the abundance of flowering and flower size.

The best time is from August 15th to September 15th. Two months before the hard frosts, daffodils will be able to settle in a new place and get stronger.

You can also plant daffodils in the spring, but before planting, you will have to keep the bulbs in the refrigerator for two months, otherwise they will not bloom.

How to plant

If you decide to plant in the fall, then in June you need to dig the soil to the depth of a shovel. It is necessary to plant with a distance of 15 cm between the bushes of daffodils. The bulb is usually buried three times its width. Well-rotted humus or compost is added to the hole. A group of 6-8 colors makes a good impression.

Given the frost resistance of this particular variety, it is not necessary to mulch the planted bulbs with peat.

Growing

Irrigation

Narcissus Rip van Winkle is a picky variety, only waterlogging is very harmful to it. Natural rainfall is usually sufficient. But in a dry season, it is necessary to water during flowering and about a month and a half after. From the heart - once a week, avoiding water on flowers and buds.

Top dressing

In the usual care of daffodils after snowmelt, it is enough to feed the seedlings with a complex mineral fertilizer.

For a more impressive flowering narcissus Rip van Winkle is fed 4 times:

• for seedlings - complete mineral fertilizer;
• when flower stalks appear - nitrogen and potassium;
• with full budding - again nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium complex;
• flowering begins - potash-phosphorus fertilizers.

Don't experiment with fresh manure, it will attract daffodils and onion hoverflies.

Mulching

Like other cultivated plants, narcissus needs constant weeding and loosening of the soil. Mulching will make this task much easier. Moreover, when loosening, bulbs and roots can be damaged. In addition, it will still keep the soil moist, that is, there will be no need for additional watering. Usually mulched with compost.

Protection against diseases

This concern is constant, because bulbous plants have a lot of diseases and pests. And daffodil Rip van Winkle is no exception.

Daffodils are threatened by all sorts of rot, banding, mosaic, nematode. All these misfortunes can be de alt with with disinfectants. And for prevention, treat the bulbs with them before storage and planting.

Diseased plants are immediately removed so as not to infect the rest, and buried at a distance, sprinkling them with bleach. The site is disinfected with copper sulfate.

The most dangerous pests for narcissus:

• onion hoverfly;
• root mite;
• daffodil fly;
• slugs, bears.

They are being treated with insecticides.

Flowering

Rip van Winkle is a double multi-flowered daffodil from the Botanical class. When flowers bloom in a flower bed, the first impression is large dandelions, but lush balls of needle-like petals stop the eye, and the delicate aroma causes emotional excitement.

Flowers up to 5 cm in size really stand out in a garden or front garden that has not yet woken up. Among the white muscari ripening nearby, purple hyacinths and botanical tulips, they look stunning in a good way: you want to sit on a bench nearby and admire endlessly. In general, the Botanical class combines flowers with a height of no more than 20 cm.

Rip van Winkle blooms 8-10 days. The appearance of ovaries should not be allowed so that they do not take strength from the flower, so the faded heads are removed.

The variety pleases with full flowering for quite a long time, but gradually degenerates into a "wild flower". As soon as there are fewer flowering shoots, the bulbs are transferred to another place.

After flowering, the leaves are not cut. The plant feeds until they die completely.

Reproduction

Usually daffodils are propagated by babies (bulbs). There is an option to use seeds, but this is not suitable for Rip van Winkle. Artificial hybrids in the case of seed breeding lose varietal characteristics.

Bulbs on average give up to 4 babies per season. They will bloom next spring. Therefore, they can be separated during transplantation and formed into an independent group.

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