Daffodils at Easter

I associate daffodils with Easter but this year with Easter being late and the weather being warm, it feels like daffodils are long gone and my garden is full of tulips. It feels quite discombobulating. However I shall take us to New York where it appears they are still in full bloom judging by this photograph which was sent to me earlier this week.

Daffodils blooming in Battery Park in downtown Manhattan

Remember David Gedye who shared a Monkey Puzzle tree story? Well this photograph is kindly taken by his son Andrew who works in one of the skyscrapers you can see in the photograph. Back in February Constance shared her plant story of being part of the team who planted a million daffodils around the city of New York after 9/11. The bulbs were a gift from a Dutch bulb grower who was moved to give them as he watched the tragedy of the Twin Towers, unfold on his television screen that fateful day. Since then, every year, more bulbs have been added to the ribbon of yellow around Manhattan and you can listen to the episode here.

I love when someone from the plant story crew helps out with another story as is the case here with David and his son Andrew. So I am going to put out another request just in case someone knows someone who knows someone! I am working on a story featuring a Yucca plant bought in Marks & Spencer at Christmas 1976. I have discovered that M&S started selling houseplants in 1969 but does anyone else have any other information on where the stores were sourcing their houseplants and how they were choosing what to stock? Maybe someone knows a houseplant buyer? Do email me sallly@ourplantstories.com if you can help.

On Sunday I went to my first plant fair with Plant Heritage. I arrived early at the Garden Museum in London for set up. What a joy! In the car park outside were vans and small family cars packed with crates of plants. Inside were stalls hidden beneath swathes of foliage of all shades of green. Waiting for the Plant Heritage plants to arrive, I helped another lady carry her crates to a spot by the tombs inside the courtyard, admiring and subsequently buying one of her very gorgeous orange Epimediums. The organiser was checking everyone had everything they needed, I did smile as I followed her out to the gate realising she was clutching a snail that she had spotted on her travels. Tricky to leave said snail just anywhere with that number of growers. It was relocated to a flower bed by the entrance!

Our Plant Heritage plants, some donated by national collection holders and others by members were arranged on our table. I stood beside a very knowledgeable colleague. I discovered over the course of the morning that she had grown up with a father who was a wonderful gardener and teacher. Every year he would give her the Chiltern Seed catalogue and she could pick whatever she fancied growing. Be it an annual or a tree, he would study the required growing conditions and help her to achieve them. He only ever used the Latin names of plants and she still recalled in later teenage years, realising that plants had other ‘common’ names.

The morning passed quickly with a wonderful range of conversations with buyers. We happened to have a curly spider plant on the stand. Yes, for those of you who have been following closely and listened to Jane Perrone’s plant story and the two women who share the national collection of spider plants, it was ‘Bonnie’. Though I suggested the delights of owning a curly spider plant to many, it took a while to find a buyer for ‘Bonnie’, however finally, much to my delight, the plant sailed off with a new owner,

This week I have been editing the Offshoot episode for Tuesday which features an interview with Adam Alexander the author of a new book called The Accidental Seed Heroes. I am discovering that there is so much more to learn about seeds and where they come from. Remember if you follow the podcast on whichever app you use, you will never miss an episode.

If you took part in the dahlia seed experiment last year, do check out the tubers you saved. Claire sent me a picture of the ‘dalhlia babies’ she left in the ground shooting, so today I will be checking out the ones I stored in the garden shed. And if you are intrigued and want to know more about dahlias well this is last April’s episode that inspired some of us to grow dahlias from seed.

Have a wonderful long weekend, I do hope it includes sowing seeds and time in the garden.

Love

Sally

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