Sweetly fragrant and wonderfully unusual, Kapiti Peach is a modern tazetta from New Zealand breeder John McLennan, registered in 2017. Each 14-16″ stem carries several upward-facing blooms with crisp white to greenish-white petals and a cup that opens orange-yellow and blushes to a soft peachy pink. The warmer the weather, the deeper that peach color gets — a tazetta built for Southern gardens.
Blooms: Each stem carries up to four upward-facing 1½-2" flowers. The cup opens a light orange-yellow and ages to a peachy salmon-pink, so a clump shows several shades at once. Expect blooms in mid-spring (April in zone 5) on 14-16" stems. Hardy in zones 5-9, and it truly thrives in Southern heat. A few stems in a vase will perfume a room.
Plant: Plant the bulb like most daffodils in 6+ hours of winter sun, well-drained soil, avoid standing water, and avoiding too much competition. Plant the bulbs about 2-3 times the size of the bulb (so if the bulb is 1 inch long, plant it 2-3 inches deep). If you are farther north and get very cold during the winter, you may want to plant it about 4-6 inches deep. Space the holes about 3-6 inches apart, and for a more natural looking display, consider planting 2-3 bulbs in each hole.
Landscaping Tip: Narcissus bloom at different times so as one daffodil is ending its bloom time another is just beginning. We like to say that "there is a bulb that blooms every week of the year in warmer climates." Your garden can have consistent flowers that you can enjoy inside or outside for months and carry you all the way from February through April.
Fragrance: This tazetta is very fragrant, with the sweet, musky perfume tazettas are known for. The fragrance draws bees and butterflies and makes it a favorite for cutting.
Animals: Like other daffodil bulbs, critters, including deer and gophers, leave this bulb alone. However, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are attracted to the blooms and sweet-smelling flowers. There are so many blooms on each stalk that they don't have to fight over each flower.