Want a hillside of yellow blooms in your Oakland neighborhood next spring? Keep Oakland Beautiful's annual Daffodil Days returns on Saturday, Nov. 7, with free bulbs for residents and groups.
How to get bulbs
People and groups can apply for up to 200 bulbs each. Applications are due Friday, Nov. 6, and bulbs are handed out first come, first served. Priority goes to projects on public property or on private property that faces the public, Funcheap reports.
Pickup is Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to noon at Redwood Heights Recreation Center, 3883 Aliso Ave. The nonprofit also gives out native California wildflower seeds as part of the program, which ties in with Keep America Beautiful's National Planting Day.
Planting tips
Keep Oakland Beautiful suggests a sunny spot with good drainage where people can enjoy the flowers. Avoid mowed lawns, places you can't keep free of litter and weeds, and natural areas with native plants. Dig a hole twice as deep as the bulb, cover it loosely, water once, and let the winter rains do the rest. If it stays dry, water about every 10 days. Participants are expected to keep their sites watered, weeded and litter-free.
Bulbs planted in early fall root best, the group says, so plant soon after pickup for bigger spring blossoms.