Pseudonarcissus lobularis, the wild lent lily. Creamy white petalled with a yellow trumpet, the petals rather obscuring full sight of the trumpet, flowering at about 8” (20cm) in March. The bulbs of these are much smaller than you might expect for Narcissus, and they may not all flower the first year – one is dealing here with a ‘wild’ plant and not a cultivated hybrid form. Flowering is always haphazard and staggered – after all it is in the plant’s interests to spread the risk of not producing seed.
Planting instructions
They are best grown in cool grassland or meadow, even north facing slopes where the sun hardly reaches. If the soil is moist and retentive of that moisture, all the better. Under these situations, or as close to them as you can manage, the bulbs get planted in groups of 2 or 3 about 3” deep (7cm), and irregular spacing. Try and mimic a swathe rather than a block. Do not mow or fertilise the grass till they have gone quite dormant in July; this period of replenishment of the bulb's starchy food reserves is critical to future flowering. Over the years they will bulk up, and look after themselves and with the addition of some very simple other natives (Fritillaria meleagris, cowslips, primula) you need do little more.
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