Will daffodils grow in these conditions?

[Foresttheout]

Hi All
Hoping someone with gardening knowledge may be able to help me. I absolutely love daffodils and every spring my house would be full of them. I now live abroad and seeing daffodils on peoples social media is making me really miss home so I wondered if perhaps I could try to grow some. I have never seen them here but I could easily order the bulbs online and get them delivered.
I am about 100km south of the equator but at 2500meters altitude so the weather is not insanely hot. Temperature ranges from 10degrees - 25 degrees over the year with some hotter days. Weather wise we don't really have seasons like in the UK instead Dec/Jan/Feb is the hottest and driest season, Mar/Apr/May is rainy but still warm, Jun/Jul/Aug is Sep/Oct/Nov is wet again but still quite cool. There is some rain all year round and I guess I would describe the weather overall as like a continuous english spring/summer.

I think the soil in my garden is acidic based on the fact the hydrangeas are a pale blue colour, it drains well and I have a selection of either very sunny or slightly shady spots.
I kill most plants I try to nurture so would really appreciate any advice on whether daffodils would grow and when I should plant them and where. If daffodils won't work any suggestions on other plants that might remind me of home which would do well (I also love sunflowers and tulips)

check the courty's defra equivalent if you are allowed to import flower bulbs.

I looked into this, bulbs seem to be acceptable as long as I agree to them being inspected by customs for pests upon arrival. Live plants need a license and seem much more complicated.

I would imagine that they would grow, but not necessarily flower in spring. Daffodils in the UK show shoots early on in the year, but if there’s heavy snow or ice they have the ability to stop growing and continue later.
I’ve been to a country where the winters were harsh and the clement growing season quite short. It was a bit strange to see daffodils and tulips growing alongside roses and other ‘summer’ flowers in full bloom.

Could you put them in pots if the soil isn't the right kind? You could also move them in and out of the shade etc if needed

I could put them in a pot if that would help, how do I know what sort of soil they need?

I wouldn't have thought that soil type would make much difference, it's whether without a cold spell followed by warmer weather it would trigger them into flowering. My guess would be they would start flowering once planted (as it would be warm enough). Either way bulbs are cheap so give it a go!

It's not the season to be buying daffodil bulbs (that is our autumn time) but when they are in the shops here they are cheap as chips. Unless transport costs are horrendous, I don't see what you have to lose if you give it a try.

Thanks for the advice, perhaps I could force them by putting them somewhere cold for a while. You are both correct that bulbs are so cheap it might be worth a try provided I can get them here cheaply.

I would definitely try tulips. I think they were originally a Middle Eastern (sort of Turkey) plant, often growing in quite mountainous regions so range of temperature, poor soil, good drainage. You might have to stick to the smaller specie tulips rather than the big flouncy ones, but worth a try I think. How about cyclamen too? Another mountainous plant.

[I think I would rather research local native plants though and learn to love them.]

Thankyou viques I'll look into those, i have a lovely garden with lots of native or well adapted non native plants which my landlord maintains and I love many. Lots of them don't seem to have flowers though so I'll research some that do. We have a huge Bougainvillea hedge which is beautiful but I'd like a bit more colour, with a little touch of home

You could try Narcissus tazetta and its varieties - it's native to the Mediterranean countries and naturalised in the Middle East.

Or some of the plants that have narcissus-like flowers. Hymenocallis is native to S US, Mexico, Caribbean, S America.

Pancratium maritinum "sea daffodil" is native to the Canaries and both sides of the Mediterranean. Flowers Aug -Oct. Lives in sand dunes, so you'd probably have to grow it in a container.

Ismene - Peruvian daffodil. I used to grow this in a pot.

All of these have white, not yellow, flowers, but they have the overall jizz of a daffodil and many of them are scented.