Today, it was 70° back home in Gloucester Virginia and that means daffodils of all shades and shapes must be blooming profusely across the countryside there. Once called “The Daffodil Capital of America,” it all began when Gloucester’s early settlers brought the bulbs to across the sea in the 1600s. The climate and soil agreed with daffodils and the flowers eventually spread like melted butter across the fields of Gloucester. The flower is celebrated to this day.
Since 1938, my garden club, The Garden Club of Gloucester, has held an annual daffodil show where growers are encouraged to enter a competition for the best bloom in 13 different divisions. The American Daffodil Society sanctioned event, the oldest event in Gloucester, not only fills a gymnasium with a dazzle of daffodils for the Horticulture Division, it offers an Artistic Division where entrants compete interpreting themes in flower arranging, and two popular Artistic Divisions for children. Click pictures to enlarge.
For the last couple of days, I’ve read emails flying between club members in Virginia as they rush into a frenzy of action for the show this weekend. Today, husbands of garden club members gathered at a storage barn to transport several truckloads of staging supplies to the show site. A long day was in store for folks as supplies are assembled. I’m not there in person, but in spirit, as they transform an empty space into a daffodil wonderland by the time the show opens on Saturday, March 29. Following the two day show, it closes and tear-down by members and husbands begins efficiently and swiftly. Risers, covers, test tubes, blocks and truckloads of equipment are packed and transported by trucks and packed away.
Good luck this weekend, friends!
If your idea of a perfect summer garden is drifts of colorful yet carefree flowers, then daylilies are the flower for you. They are a forgiving plant, easy to grow, long-lived, low maintenance, salt tolerant, accept soil from sand to heavy clay, and are ranked among the top five drought resistant plants. They are perennial and can be used as ground cover, in drifts in borders or used as accents in the landscape. No green thumb is needed to enjoy summer-long blooms in a vast array of colors.
Ware Neck. He is a 1st class grower who has a strong desire to share his knowledge and his plants with others.
register with the American Hemerocallis Society. To date he has registered four but some of his daylilies are local favorites and hotly sought after. To have a ‘Ware Yellow‘ in your garden gives you certain bragging rights. Ahem. Yes, I have two.
