A Quirky Daffodil Brings Back Memories

Whether you’ll love or hate this daffodil depends on your perspective. It’s another curiosity I spotted growing in the Bridgemere Nursery display gardens (like this black primula for those who missed it). 

I like peach flowers. This one curiously reminds me of one of my favourite childhood ice creams. We used to pass the only shop I ever knew that stocked it on our way back from a walk through Sunnyhurst Wood and I would beg for it. Now and then, I got lucky. The object of my desire was a family size brick (for those days: I’m not sure we’d see it as family size now) with a delicious slab of tangy peach melba sandwiched between ordinary vanilla. My mouth still waters in thwarted anticipation just thinking of it, years after the source dried up.

The daffodil that sent me roaming down memory lane is not just peach and vanilla, but a whole fruit sundae of colours: guava, apricot, mango and even a touch of lime. To my eye, it has an ungainly charm. Perhaps it has run away from a  fairground in search of a quieter way of life. That would explain why it was trying its best to look innocent under the dappled shade of a tree when I spotted it – so it wouldn’t be taken back to the razzmatazz.

It might have looked more graceful if I hadn’t been holding up the stem to take a closer look at the frilly petals clustered at the heart of the bloom. But I think this cultivar is all about celebrating excess rather than elegant simplicity.

I was scampering around Brent and Becky’s daffodil farm this time last year, dodging April showers and, in my excitement, taking more pictures than I really know what to do with. This is one for those who prefer their daffodils to have a stripped back beauty:

If you’re lucky enough to live near Brent and Becky’s Bulbs, now’s the time to get over there to see their collection of daffodils in flower. It’s a sight I’ll never forget.