This stunning short-cup daffodil has “a remarkable eye of solid, deep rich red,” to quote Albert Calvert in his monumental 1929 Daffodil Growing for Pleasure and Profit. That may be a bit exaggerated, but the first time this graceful antique bloomed here, the intense color of its flat, rippled cup bowled us over. Not bad for a centenarian! 3 W-R, 18-20 inches, zones 5-7bS/9WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

$50! At a recent ADS auction, that was the winning bid for three bulbs of this vivid, sun-proof, blue-ribbon charmer that E.A. Bowles praised as the epitome of “brilliancy, gaiety, and refinement.” Though it’ s so rare we’ ve never been able to offer it before, we’ re charging half that much. We really want you to grow it! 2 W-O, 18-20 inches, zones 5-7bS/9WC, from Pennsylvania. Chart to compare.

With clustered florets almost twice the size of most poetazes, and an intense, juicy orange color that’s sun-proof and vibrant day after day, this enticingly fragrant, multiple award-winner is an absolute knock-out. 8 W-O, 18-20 inches, zones 5b-8bS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

“If I could have but one,” wrote A.M. Kirby in 1907 in America’s first book about daffodils, “I would choose this.” It’s a favorite of ours, too, a glorious Victorian trumpet full of wildflower vigor and grace. It’s extra early, blooming as the crocus fade, and multiplies with gusto. 1 Y-Y, 14-15 inches, zones 4-7S/9WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

This legendary, 18th-century tazetta is one of our most sought-after treasures. “Certainly no finer flowering bulbs are available for Southerners,” Ogden writes in his newly revised Garden Bulbs for the South. “They are by far the most vigorous, persistent, and floriferous” narcissus in zones 8-9bS/11WC. If you garden there, you want this jewel! A.k.a. ‘Grand Primo Citroniere’, 8 W-Y, 14-16 inches, fat, fresh California-grown bulbs. Chart to compare.

With distinctively long bells that give it a look of langourous abundance, this post-war beauty “stands out as exceptional” among the often “rather similar” triandrus clan says Geoff Stebbings in his excellent Spring Bulbs. Its silky blooms are a mellow, creamy white with “a flash of green and yellow” at the base, and the first time it bloomed here we knew we had to share it. 5 W-W, 14-16 inches, zones 5-8aS/10WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

‘Insulinde’ somehow manages to be both graceful and exuberant at the same time. Framed by a row or two of creamy white outer petals, its center is a throng of luminous orange petalets spiked with random flares of cream. Bred by the illustrious Mrs. Backhouse (of daffodil and lily fame), it’s named for a romantic Victorian novel set in Indonesia. 4 W-O, 21-23 inches, zones 5-7bS/9WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

This is the neatest double daffodil we’ve ever seen, with creamy white petals arranged just so and trimmed with bits of pale primrose. It would look perfect on an Edwardian lady’s Easter bonnet! To read the surprising story of the real Irene and her sister Mary, shared with us by her daughter, click here. 4 W-Y, 16-18 inches, zones 4-7bS/9WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.

“The sweetest smelling flower your grandmother had in her garden,” says our friend Celia Jones of Sisters’ Bulb Farm, and for many Southerners N. jonquilla’s fragrance is the essence of spring. Its clusters of nickel-sized flowers with tiny cups seem made for fairies. Our true heirloom blooms much earlier than modern Dutch forms. A.k.a. Sweeties, Simplex, 13 Y-Y, 8-10 inches, zones 6-8bS/10WC, from Texas. Chart to compare.

True stock! You may think you’ve grown this icon, but since the 1950s, most bulbs sold in the US as ‘King Alfred’ have been newer, over-sized impostors that were easier to mass-produce in the mild, moist Dutch climate. We waited years to get the real ‘King’ from Holland’s greatest daffodil collector, and now – trumpets, please – here it is, gold, bold, and everything a world famous icon should be. 1Y-Y, 21-23 inches, zones 4-7bS/9WC, from Holland. Chart to compare.