A Grand Finale to Daffodil Season

I’ve just returned from the Nantucket Daffodil Show and Festival, and the last of my daffodils are in bloom. Usually I have some blooms into mid-May, but not this year. ‘Baby Moon’, ‘Final Curtain’, and a few of my late seedlings are in bloom, but that’s it. But it’s been a busy, busy month of daffodils, and for the most part the daffodils have been very good. Color has been better than I remember for the past couple of years, so it’s been a satisfying season.

This was my first visit to the Nantucket Show, on April 26, and I got a clue about how serious they are about the festival when I saw daffodils blooming between the runways at the airport! I can’t believe I’ll ever see that anywhere else! Unfortunately Mother Nature didn’t cooperate with the Festival organizers as rain was the order of the day. While the parade of antique cars, decked out in daffodil finery, went on as scheduled, the outdoor picnic was cancelled. But the weather didn’t affect the daffodil show.

The daffodil show in Nantucket, though sponsored by the Nantucket Garden Club, is a community affair. School children are a big part of the show. (Rumor has it that any student who entered the show was excused from homework for a day.) There’s a large section for junior horticulture entries in the show, and a class for flower arrangements. The theme of the show was “Daffodil Stars,” and Juniors were to interpret “Big Dipper, Little Dipper” in a flower arrangement.

I was pleased that my seven-year-old grand-niece, who lives on the mainland, was able to bring some flowers to the show. This was her first foray into daffodil exhibiting, and it pleased both Casey and me that she won two second place awards and an honorable mention. I had entered a bloom of ‘Casey’ from my Ohio garden which won a first place award, so it was a good day for both Casey and ‘Casey’.

The shop windows along Main Street were decked out in daffodils, both inside the shops and outside in window boxes. ‘Tete-a-Tete’ and pansies or primroses made attractive window box plantings, while some businesses used interesting ways to promote their business along with daffodils. The giant fountain in the middle of Main Street sported daffodils this day, rather than water.

Maybe on my next visit, Mother Nature will cooperate, and provide sunshine to go along with the sunny daffodils

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