There are many daffodils. Maybe the yellow common one is most likely Dutch Master or maybe King Alfred?
There will be a daffodil show at the Frelinghuysen arboretum on April 28th and 29th from 1-4. I went two years before and it was very nice. So many types to see and growers present to ask.
Palmares, Jetfire, Red Devon, Prof. Einstein and Pheasant Eye are some that have come back for me.

hi loretta,

thank you for the list! i think king alfred was the one i've heard of... but i like your other suggestions too! palmares and pheasant eye especially. and i know i definitely have not bought any on your list, so worth a try this fall i think..

thanks :)

Your welcome. Also, Brent and Becky already posted their new spring/fall catalog. Often they will mention if a plant is a good perennial and I've gotten nice bulbs in the past from them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brent and Becky

If you have tried MANY bags without much success, then it may not be the daffodils type. I have nearly 400 blooming right now, some do look better, last longer than others, but they all do well. Check the bulb condition, time of year you plant them (I plant them late, like Thanksgiving), proper depth, etc.
I use an auger that attaches to the cordless drill, it makes planting so easy.
Don't give up. Those yellow spots in early spring are for all to enjoy.

That's true. I usually get at least one year bloom out of them, even though they don't all come back. What are your sources?

Pheasant's eye, Ice Follies, and Winston Churchhill are great performers for me, but some that I really like have just faded out - Pico Bello, Green Pearl and Itzim.

Another survivor whose name I forget is a white split-corona with three yellow blazes in the corona.

Where is my brain - a good bulb company is that one in
CT that has two branches - Van Engelen has the very large minimum order and then there is the smaller order branch.

I too grow Pheasant's Eye, Ice Follies, and Winston Churchill, along with Thalia, Erlicheer, Baby Moon, Ice Wings and Salome. Churchill and Salome have reproduced rapidly. Many of mine came from the no-longer-with-us Frank's, but I've been ordering from Brent and Becky lately.

When I lived in Somerville, I had masses and masses of daffodils. Some were planted in an area that flooded every spring but still they bloomed. My favorite daff is Mrs. R. O. Backhouse - that flower was all over the yard in Somerville, together with many, many other varieties.

I can't grow a single daff up here in Hunterdon County. There are daffs on the property that were planted many, many, many years ago but NOTHING that I plant has bloomed.

It's very frustrating.

wow, so many posts! altho, now i'm starting to get a little frustrated after reading diane_nj's comments about salome. i definitely remember buying a bag of salome (along with a white one i don't remember the name of) and planting them - and got nothing but leaves. maybe it is something i'm doing wrong then.. i remember buying the salomes from a big box store like bjs or something, could this be the reason? i don't recall anything amiss during planting - good looking bulbs, proper depth, part sun, lots of bone meal.. hmm..

it's amazing how reading your posts and getting worked up over daffies can get my old mind working again. now i also remember getting golden ducats as well.

and from recollection, almost all but the salomes bloomed the first year and then stopped thereafter. the only ones that flowered for me year on year were some strappy standard daffs that i got in a bag of 50 about 5 years ago, of which maybe 5 or 6 survived. and even they are on a decline as well, i only had 3 blooms in all this year, and i dug them up and transplanted them 2 yrs ago so i don't think they're overcrowded..

maybe i should fertilize more..

Maybe the bulbs from the big box store were too small. I've gotten good bulbs from these places but I alway check the sizes and the condition. A lot of times bulbs on the shelves are dead or moldy and soon to be dead.
Do you have good drainage?

To loretta ... I buy from whomever marks them down the cheapest at the end of the season...fanciest ones are usually gone, but I like cheap more than fancy. So, I am getting the most standard at the lowest price. HD, Lowes, anyone who has lots of em. Used to get them at SuperG, for 90% off, bought bout 300.00 worth for 30.00.

Mine are all mixed in with my rose beds and while I don't directly fertilize the daffs, they get fertilized anyway because of the roses. I haven't put down a new daff in 4 years. I happened to notice the Salome looked particularly robust this year.

loretta, i think the drainage is good ..our whole garden is on some kind of slope and soil has many small rocks. but i'm getting encouraged now - it's definitely not my choice of daffies - i think i've resolved to paying more attention to them this year, giving them an extra fertilizer treat maybe. i want those salomes to bloom grrr.. :)

any special recommendations for fertilizer?

Diane, I think you might be rubbing it in! Lol!

Kitova, the only other thing I could suggest at this point besides try again is a possibility of pests in your yard. There are two I can google quickly: Ditylenchus dipsaci and The Narcissus Fly, Merodon equestris. Do they even live in NJ? I see no reference to this but you might dig up your bulbs and check them throughout the seasons, see if they are still healthy and not under attack from something living in your yard. But my feeling is you will be successful next year!

Ourbackyard, I always look for cheap too but the markdowns weren't too good around here this year. Not only was there seemingly less for sale, they didn't even go on sale at some spots, just took them off the shelves. The best I did was 50% off at two places.

Here is a link that might be useful: Narcissus Bulb Fly

Here in south Jersey I've had a lot of luck with daffodils.

I've bought from both Lowe's and Home Depot (and Franks when they were around) and have the best luck with Dutch Masters and Ice Follies. I also order online from John Scheepers, mostly King Alfreds and Ice Follies.

Not all mine come back, but most do. Some places where they dont have poor drainage, others are a mystery. I dont think there's a lot of pests that bother with them. I still have blooms every year from daffodilds that were here when I moved in 6 years ago.

I love Rijnveld's Early Sensation that I bought from Van Engelen some years ago. The first year it bloomed in January! The next year it was two months later. This year (about its 5th) the first blooms were February 9th. To me it is a thrill to have the first daffs in the neighborhood. 2005 catalog from Van Engelen they were 100 bulbs for $35.50 plus ten percent shipping. I bought a second 100 and distributed them to friends and neighbors so I am not alone in having the very welcom first daffs.

I have bought mixes and year ends of all sorts and lost only those planted in marginal spots. Plus each year not minus.

I've seen what looks like narcissus fly in my garden, but apparently not in numbers enough to do much damage.

My cutting bed for daffodils is among the raspberry and blackberry bushes - plenty of light in early spring, foliage doesn't bother me dying back.

There are three dafs I bought last season that I don't see any sign of this year - Sun Disc, Jumblie and bulbocodium conspicuus or Golden Bells - can't remember which.

wow, i never thought this post would have such legs... those narcisuss fly is disgusting! i'm just amazed at how many disgusting bug pictures you can find online. anyway, i don't think we have a big problem with that fly here. my bulbs have been healthy when dug up...

so this spring, i've loaded up the base of all my weedy daffodil straps with fertilizer and cross my fingers... at least now i don't look at them in disgust, but a glimmer of hope. :)

Just wanted to add that Sun Disc and Golden Bells did make their appearance - only Jumblie is gone. Their foliage was very thin so I didn't notice them to be dafs.

I live in Titusville & have some Thalia planted 15 yr ago, always comes back & I've divided a few times too. Also, neighbor gives away some heirloom small double; it's the first to bloom anywhere I've ever seen. Very fragrant, & raggedy looking petals. Another neighbor has a yard full of Ice Follies.
Narcs have few pests--when you plant, are you putting them in sunny spots?---and I suggest a tbl or two bone meal scratched into bottom of planting hole. For fun, add a squill or grape hyacinth bulb to the same hole---you'll get twice as much color. But put them shallower.