A new field of daffodils

In the area to the north of Castle Street path, next to Borough Meadow the  Garden Team and the Friends have been trying to make more of a Flower Meadow by cutting and raking off the area in late June, with the same again in September. Seeds have been scattered and very slowly new species are beginning to appear. Now daffodils have appeared!

The daffodils in the Garden are mostly Narcissus 'Tenby' but as the aim is to give the Flower Meadow its own character, it was decided use a different variety. Last autumn Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus was planted in the meadow. It grows in full sun and part shade which suits the location; it naturalises well, flowers in May and has a lovely scent.

Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus in flower by Castle Street path

In October, 15 employees from Evelyn Partners (www.evelyn.com) came for a volunteer day organised by Employee Volunteering who organise corporate volunteer days (www.employeevolunteering.com). As part of their work, the Evelyn volunteers kindly planted nearly 2000 bulbs. Bulb planting is time-consuming and hard work; it took 15 people two hours to plant the bulbs, equating to four days work so everyone was very grateful for their efforts. It is lovely to see a large area of daffodils and there is a wonderful scent filling the air.

The bulbs were funded by a kind donation from Will Taylor-Watson in memory of his late partner, Jo. Will said ' It's lovely to see the daffodills emerging this spring as Jo loved Bridge End Garden. I was so glad that Jo's parents and I could help plant an area next to the path and I am sure Jo would be proud to be honoured in this way.'

So a big thank you to Will, Jo's parents and the volunteers from Evelyn Partners who all helped to make this happen.