Life

The Casual Gardener: Wander through your own host of golden daffodils

Every spring it's worth celebrating Ireland's rich association with the daffodil...

Plant daffodils in natural-looking drifts
Plant daffodils in natural-looking drifts Plant daffodils in natural-looking drifts

IN A week that began with millions of people across the world claiming a tenuous affiliation with ‘the auld sod’ I managed to unearth a rather surprising Irish connection to something that for more than two centuries has been regarded as quintessentially English.

The received wisdom is that William Wordsworth penned his famous poem Daffodils after walking along the shores of Ullswater in the Lake District on a stormy spring day with his sister, Dorothy.

His inspiration for the poem came from an account written by Dorothy in the journal that she was keeping during their time living at nearby Dove Cottage.

But this week I stumbled across a claim that the acclaimed romantic poet did not wander lonely as a cloud on the banks of Ullswater in Cumbria but happened upon that famous host of daffodils at the Dunsink Observatory at Castleknock in the Dublin suburbs.

It’s said that he was a close friend of William Rowan Hamilton, the Irish polymath who, at a mere 22 years of age, was appointed professor of astronomy at Trinity College Dublin and director of the observatory.

Apparently Wordsworth paid a memorable visit to Hamilton some time in March 1804 before committing his words to paper.

I fear this version of events is apocryphal as it only gets a couple of mentions on the internet – where else? However, thankfully there are other Irish associations with the daffodil for which the nation, north and south, can be proud.

From Co Sligo’s Josslyn Gore-Booth and Broughshane’s Guy Wilson in the first half of the last century to more recent exponents like Willy Dunlop, Sir Frank Harrison, Brian Duncan and Nial Watson, it’s fair to say Ireland has had a significant impact on the world daffodil scene, including several coveted Gold Medals from the elite Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)..

More recently Dave and Jules Hardy of Esker Farm Daffodils have taken up the baton, taking over Nial Watson’s business and relocating its stock from the shores of Strangford Lough west of the Bann, to the outskirts of Dromore in Co Tyrone.

These hybridised, genetically synthesised daffodils can command a hefty price, especially in the US and you’re unlikely to come across them on the shelves of your local B&Q. For instance, ‘Ringhaddy Sunrise’, bred by Nial Watson or Brian Duncan’s ‘Gold Braid’ will set you back in the region of #30 for a single bulb.

While these specialist bulbs have many attributes that justify, to some degree, their jaw-dropping price tag, it’s difficult to argue that they are 30 times more attractive than common varieties – especially when viewed from any distance.

Arguably, the more costly a daffodil, the closer you have to get to appreciate its detail and beauty. But don't panic if you wish to create your own drifts to wander through every spring, as common varieties like 'Carlton', 'King Alfred' or the diminutive 'Tête á Tête' don't cost the earth.

The most important thing to remember is that daffodils originated in the wild and are best planted informally in naturalised settings. As a rule of thumb, the more you have the better they look. However, they will work in a border, with a small clump of five-ten bulbs of a single cultivar grouped together.

For naturalising in grass why not choose Wordsworth's favourite, Narcissus lobularis, the wild daffodil with pale-yellow flowers, much more subtly coloured than many garden varieties.

For early blooms try the largely self-explanatory 'February Gold' or even Narcissus Rijnveld’s 'Early Sensation', which has bright yellow trumpet flowers from mid-December in milder areas.

And remember, when they've stopped flowering don’t cut the leaves for at least six weeks.