Daffodils!
Our daffodil show is an inspiration.
Spring flowers can be unpredictable in Virginia, but last week at Westminster Canterbury Richmond everything was coming up daffodils! The annual Daffodil Show and competition, in its fourth year, had over 79 entries exclusively grown in our gardens. The 2016 winner, Linda Cross, received a gold medallion for winning the highest number of blue ribbons.
Resident Margaret Ford, who first discovered the magic of daffodils when she and her husband attended the Gloucester, VA, show, more than 35 years ago, conceived the show following the footsteps of Sue Robinson.
“We fell in love with these delicate flowers and started our own garden immediately,” she said. “Each daffodil has a name such as Red Hill. You can’t imagine all of the varieties.” Mrs. Ford and her husband have regularly participated in the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Daffodil Show, and she decided that it might be fun for Westminster Canterbury Richmond to have one of its own.
“There are more than 100 garden plots here, so I thought there would be lots of places to raise daffodils,” she said. “It has been fun to see the interest and entries grow each year.” American Daffodil Society accredited judges judge the entries. Guidelines for judging come from the Royal Horticultural Society that include ten different criteria for scoring. The show has become a favorite with Westminster Canterbury residents and the Richmond community.
Mrs. Ford, who was the gold medallion winner last year, gave us some tips for planting daffodils:
- Order bulbs from a catalog or stores.
- Plant on Halloween! The ground must be cool.
- Large bulbs should be planted six inches deep. A good rule of thumb is to plant the bulb three times its depth. Example: A one-inch bulb would be planted three inches deep.
- Soil must be well drained. Daffodils don’t like to sit in dampness. While some varieties can tolerate shade, all daffodils do better in sunshine.
There are several garden plots just waiting to be planted with daffodils! Westminster Canterbury Richmond residents should contact Margaret Ford at ext. 1597 to request a garden plot.