Paperwhite daffodil

Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

Eastern Australian temperate forests

Edwards Plateau savanna

Fynbos shrubland

Mississippi lowland forests

Mojave desert

New Zealand North Island temperate forests

Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'

What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Soil pH

Acid / Neutral

Acid is below pH 6.0, neutral 6.0 to 8.0, alkaline above 8.0.

Spacing

4"

Habit

Clump-forming bulb with erect, flat, grey-green strap leaves and leafless stems topped by a bunch of small upward-facing flowers

Care tips

•

North of zone 7, grow it as a winter pot bulb indoors: it needs no cold period first, so it can be potted and brought into flower straight away.

•

Outdoors in zones 7a and warmer, plant in fall about six weeks before the first freeze, two to three times as deep as the bulb is tall, in soil that drains well; wet ground rots the bulbs.

•

Let the leaves brown naturally before cutting them back: they feed the bulb for next year.

Lifecycle

Planting

Outdoors, only in zones 7a and warmer: NC State Extension says to plant in fall, about six weeks before the first freeze, two to three times as deep as the bulb is tall and at least 3 inches deep, spaced 4 to 10 inches apart with larger bulbs further apart, in organically rich, well-drained soil in full sun or part shade, with any shade behind the planting because the flowers face the sun. Indoors, pot the bulbs for winter flowers: Wikipedia notes that tazettas and their cultivars need no cold period, unlike other daffodils, and NC State points to a Clemson University guide on forcing this species.

Transplanting

Outdoors, leave the bulbs undisturbed. Plants For A Future says to divide them after the leaves die down in early summer, replanting large bulbs at once or storing them somewhere cool until fall, and growing small bulbs on in pots for a year first.

Early growth

Keep the soil evenly moist but well drained while the leaves are growing, per NC State Extension; it tolerates drought once dormant and heat, but not very wet soil. Plants For A Future recommends a warm, sunny corner sheltered from cold winds.

Maturity

NC State Extension gives a typical 18 inches tall, sometimes 30 inches, and Plants For A Future 20 inches; Wikipedia calls it one of the tallest narcissi, to about 31 inches. Remove spent flowers if you like, but cut the leaves only once they have browned. NC State notes it is largely free of pests and disease because of its poisonous alkaloids; watch for slugs, snails, bulb mites and narcissus bulb fly, and for bulb rot in wet soil.

Propagation

NC State Extension recommends division and seed. Plants For A Future says to sow seed as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame, leave the seedlings in their pot for two years, then grow the small bulbs on for another one or two years before planting them out when dormant. Offsets divided from an established clump are the quicker route.

Pollination

Self-incompatible

Wikipedia's Narcissus article says most narcissi enforce outcrossing through a late-acting self-incompatibility system, and its tazetta article cites a study of flower dimorphism and self-incompatibility in this species. Plants For A Future lists bees as pollinators, and Wikipedia notes that honeybees readily detect a scent compound in the flowers that people can barely smell. Its long, narrow tube and short cup are the 'paperwhite' flower form, which the genus article says suits long-tongued hawk-moths, butterflies, bees and flies. In a garden or a pot this does not matter: the bulbs multiply by offsets.

Plants don't grow alone

Nectar forage

Moth

Hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)

Wikipedia's Narcissus article says the narrow-tubed 'paperwhite' flower form is adapted to long-tongued hawk-moths, naming the genus Macroglossum, to which the hummingbird hawk-moth belongs. That is documented for the flower form, not for this species; the two share the Mediterranean, and the moth is an outdoor visitor only.

Pollen forage

Bee

European honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Plants For A Future lists bees as pollinators and Wikipedia notes honeybees readily detect the flower scent. The genus article adds that bees too short-tongued to reach the nectar at the base of the tube collect pollen instead. Relevant only to plants flowering outdoors.

For people

Toxic - do not consume

Poisonous. NC State Extension rates the poison severity of this species low but lists vomiting, salivation and diarrhea, with convulsions, low blood pressure, tremors and heart rhythm problems after large amounts; the bulb is the most poisonous part, the toxin is lycorine and related alkaloids, and it is a problem for cats, dogs and horses. Wikipedia records many poisonings and deaths when narcissus bulbs were mistaken for onions or leeks and cooked, so keep forced bulbs in the kitchen well away from food. The sap irritates skin: NC State's Narcissus page warns of contact dermatitis ('lily rash') from handling bulbs, flowers and stems, and Wikipedia calls 'daffodil itch' one of the commonest skin problems of florists and gardeners. Plants For A Future lists traditional medicinal uses and records no known hazards, which this record does not follow. The flowers yield an essential oil grown for perfume in southern France, per NC State, Plants For A Future and Wikipedia.

Native range

Worldwide native range.

Climate notes

•

Indoors except in USDA zones 7a and warmer. NC State Extension and Plants For A Future both list Narcissus tazetta for hardiness zones 7a-10b, and Plants For A Future adds that dormant bulbs survive soil temperatures down to at least 23°F. North of zone 7 most readers will grow it as a forced pot bulb for winter flowers indoors rather than as a garden bulb.

•

The native range here is taken from Kew's World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), the dataset POWO publishes: around the Mediterranean from the Canary Islands, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt through Spain, the Balearic Islands, France, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Sicily, the northwest Balkans, Albania, Greece, Crete, the East Aegean islands, Cyprus and Turkey, east through Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, with further populations in southeast China and Japan. WCVP lists it as introduced in Portugal, the Azores, Great Britain, the Transcaucasus, European Turkey, Tajikistan, the western Himalaya, Korea, central Mexico, Bermuda, southern and western Australia, Tasmania, Norfolk Island, New Zealand, and eleven US states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

•

Sources draw the wild range differently. Wikipedia calls it native from Portugal to Turkey, treats Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and Japan as places it has naturalised, and its Narcissus article describes the Asian populations as ancient introductions; WCVP counts China and Japan as native and Portugal as introduced. In China and Japan it is grown as the Chinese sacred lily (subspecies chinensis), a New Year flower forced indoors in bowls.

•

Where it has escaped: NC State Extension lists it in the southeastern United States from Virginia to Florida and west to Texas, and in Britain and Australia. USDA PLANTS lists it as introduced in the lower 48 states with no invasive or noxious status, and Plants For A Future gives no weed potential.

•

Sources disagree on when it flowers: NC State Extension says early to mid spring in North Carolina, Plants For A Future January to February. Forced bulbs flower indoors in winter. Bulbs sold as paperwhites are not always this species: Wikipedia lists 'Grand Soleil d'Or' and 'Ziva' as tazetta cultivars used for forcing, and also calls Narcissus papyraceus, a close Mediterranean relative, a paperwhite. Check the botanical name on the label.

Plant this, not that

Better fit for this place

For Chicago, IL, these are replacement suggestions: similar plants with a stronger hardiness fit now and/or in 2050.

Autumn-joy stonecrop

A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3 to 6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 24 inches. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.

The classic white-and-yellow garden daisy - a clump-forming herbaceous perennial bearing showy single flower heads of white ray florets around a yellow central disc from midsummer into fall. A garden hybrid bred by Luther Burbank in the 1890s near snow-covered Mt. Shasta in northern California, it grows 2 to 3 feet tall and is a mainstay of the perennial border, cottage garden, and cutting garden. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant, attracts butterflies, and is resistant to deer and rabbit browsing.

Better fit now and in 2050

Now: well-suited

2050: well-suited

Leucanthemum × superbum

Shasta daisy

Easter lily reaches most people the way almost nothing else in this catalog does: as a forced gift plant in a foil-wrapped pot, in full white trumpet in March or April, months before its real season. Left to itself in a garden Lilium longiflorum flowers in July and August, and Missouri Botanical Garden files it under the plainer name trumpet lily. Everything about the pot version is engineered - bulbs lifted in autumn from a narrow strip of the California and Oregon coast, cooled, potted, held under a temperature schedule that lands the buds on a date that moves by up to five weeks a year, and kept short with growth retardants. That is why the plant you were given is 16 to 20 inches tall and the same plant in the ground is 2 to 3 feet. The single most important sentence in this record is not horticultural. This is the species behind the veterinary literature on feline lily poisoning: every part of it, including the pollen and the water in the vase, causes acute kidney injury in cats, less than one leaf can be enough, and untreated cases die in 36 to 72 hours. It is also the lily that enters houses in quantity, which is the whole problem. If there is a cat in the house, this plant does not come in the door. Beyond that, be clear about what it is not. It is not a hardy garden bulb in the way the regal lily in this wave is - Missouri Botanical Garden rates it zone 4 to 8, which is the most generous number in circulation for a subtropical island endemic, and much US extension guidance says 5 to 8. It is not a widespread wild species either: Kew's native range is the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, southern Japan and the Philippines, and nothing else. A globally traded flower with a natural range you could drive across in a day.

Better fit now and in 2050

Now: well-suited

2050: well-suited

Lilium longiflorum

Easter lily

A spring-flowering bulb grown for dense upright spikes of waxy, star-shaped florets in blue, purple, pink, red, or white - famous for an intense, sometimes overpowering fragrance. Plant bulbs in mid-fall for an April bloom; flower quality typically declines after the first year, so the densest spikes often need replanting every couple of seasons. Every part of the bulb is mildly toxic and the sap can cause contact dermatitis, so gloves are advised when planting.

Better fit now and in 2050

Now: well-suited

2050: well-suited

Hyacinthus orientalis

Common hyacinth

A bold, clump-forming evergreen perennial from South Africa, grown for big rounded umbels of trumpet-shaped blue (or white) flowers held on tall bare stalks above arching, strap-shaped leaves in mid-to-late summer. It is widely sold as "lily of the Nile," but that is a misnomer - the plant is South African (the Cape provinces and KwaZulu-Natal), not from the Nile. Spectacular and easy in warm climates, this evergreen Agapanthus is frost-tender, so in cold-winter areas it is grown in a container and overwintered under cover. The RHS has given several Agapanthus praecox forms its Award of Garden Merit and rates this evergreen species half-hardy (H3 - needs winter protection).

Better fit now and in 2050

Now: well-suited

2050: well-suited

Similar plants

Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.

Agapanthus praecox

African lily

Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'

Autumn-joy stonecrop

A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3 to 6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 24 inches. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.

Scadoxus multiflorus, the blood lily (also fireball lily, ball lily, powderpuff lily), is a summer-growing bulbous geophyte in the Amaryllidaceae, native across tropical and southern Africa to the southwestern Arabian Peninsula. Each bulb sends up a leafless stem topped by a dramatic globe-shaped umbel of scarlet flowers with protruding stamens, often before or alongside the foliage. It is a focal-point container and bedding bulb prized for its bold flower head, but it is decidedly tender - RHS rates it H1B (minimum 50 to 59°F), so outside roughly USDA zones 9b–11 it must be grown under glass or as a houseplant and dried off / overwintered frost-free. CRITICAL CAUTION: every part is toxic - Scadoxus contains poisonous alkaloids and has been used as a component of arrow and fishing poisons; the bulbs are ornamental, not edible, and the plant is harmful to people, pets, and grazing animals if ingested. Handle with gloves and keep away from children and animals.

A bold, clumping rhizomatous perennial grown for its elegant, pure-white funnel-shaped flowers - actually a curved spathe wrapped around a yellow finger-like spadix - held on tall stems above large, glossy, arrow-shaped deep-green leaves from late winter into summer. Native to the wetlands and seeps of southern Africa, Zantedeschia aethiopica is the classic florist's calla and a striking water-margin and container plant, thriving in consistently moist to wet rich soil in full sun to part shade. It is tender (hardy in zones 8a-10b), where it overwinters in the ground and can be near-evergreen; colder gardeners grow it from lifted rhizomes or under heavy mulch. Two cautions are load-bearing: every part is toxic if eaten (calcium-oxalate raphides), and in mild, wet climates it can escape and naturalize into an invasive weed.

Zantedeschia aethiopica

Calla lily

A tuberous-rooted member of the aster family native to Mexico and Central America, grown for showy summer-to-fall blooms in nearly every color except blue. Hybrids in commerce span ten flower-form groups (single, anemone, collarette, waterlily, decorative, fall, pompon, cactus, semi-cactus, and miscellaneous) and range from 1 to 6 feet tall. Winter-hardy only to USDA Zones 7-10; in colder regions the tubers are lifted in fall and stored frost-free, so most North American gardeners grow it as a summer annual.

Easter lily reaches most people the way almost nothing else in this catalog does: as a forced gift plant in a foil-wrapped pot, in full white trumpet in March or April, months before its real season. Left to itself in a garden Lilium longiflorum flowers in July and August, and Missouri Botanical Garden files it under the plainer name trumpet lily. Everything about the pot version is engineered - bulbs lifted in autumn from a narrow strip of the California and Oregon coast, cooled, potted, held under a temperature schedule that lands the buds on a date that moves by up to five weeks a year, and kept short with growth retardants. That is why the plant you were given is 16 to 20 inches tall and the same plant in the ground is 2 to 3 feet. The single most important sentence in this record is not horticultural. This is the species behind the veterinary literature on feline lily poisoning: every part of it, including the pollen and the water in the vase, causes acute kidney injury in cats, less than one leaf can be enough, and untreated cases die in 36 to 72 hours. It is also the lily that enters houses in quantity, which is the whole problem. If there is a cat in the house, this plant does not come in the door. Beyond that, be clear about what it is not. It is not a hardy garden bulb in the way the regal lily in this wave is - Missouri Botanical Garden rates it zone 4 to 8, which is the most generous number in circulation for a subtropical island endemic, and much US extension guidance says 5 to 8. It is not a widespread wild species either: Kew's native range is the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, southern Japan and the Philippines, and nothing else. A globally traded flower with a natural range you could drive across in a day.