The winner: Daffodils (Narcissus), 87/100. Runner-up: Snowdrop at 82.
October work for an April show: true hardy bulbs only, scored on the spring window they fill, how deep a winter they survive, and whether deer let the show happen.
The picks
The flowers that won
The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
Spring months it fills: 2 of 3 window months · Survives deer and squirrel country: D · Cold it is proven to survive: 3 to 8
Flaws, not dealbreakers:the show is short, about 2 months; toxic to cats
Deer: deer candy (Rutgers D)Not for cat households
67/ 100tap for the breakdown
Spring months it fills22 / 302 of 3 window months
Survives deer and squirrel country0 / 25D
Cold it is proven to survive25 / 253 to 8
Plant-and-forget upkeep20 / 20low
The protocol
How the score is built
4 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Spring months it fills30 pointsblooms across all three spring months 30; two 22; one 12 Read from: the months it is in bloom.
Survives deer and squirrel country25 pointsRutgers A, rarely damaged 25; B 18; C 8; D, deer candy 0; not rated 11 Read from: the Rutgers deer rating.
Cold it is proven to survive25 pointsproven to zone 3 25; zone 4 20; zone 5 14; milder only 7 Read from: the zones it survives.
Plant-and-forget upkeep20 pointslow upkeep 20; middling 11; demanding 3; sources disagree, we average the range; no rating 9 Read from: how much upkeep extension guides report.
Not ranked here: not a bulb; does not bloom in spring; not hardy enough to overwinter in the ground.
The full method ↗
The leaderboard
Every qualifier, ranked
The 6 highest of 6 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
Survives deer and squirrel country11 / 25no published rating
Cold it is proven to survive7 / 257 to 10
Plant-and-forget upkeep11 / 20medium
Considered, not chosen
Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this job is not theirs.
not a bulbRoses, Peonies, Sunflower and 66 more
does not bloom in springLily, Dahlia, Agapanthus and 5 more
not hardy enough to overwinter in the ground (zones 9 to 11)Cyclamen
not hardy enough to overwinter in the ground (zones 8 to 10)Ranunculus
The winner's badge
Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Daffodils (Narcissus)
The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the
table changes, it re-scores itself.
How we rank
We keep one table of 85 flowers,
with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is
a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made
it. A flower that does not fit a job is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is
shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself.
The full method ↗
