Not a competitive show but a wonderful show of daffodils all the same. Thank you to Northern Group members Ian Tyler (for his comments and photographs) and Len Tomlinson (for growing them). This information was originally posted on Daffnet by Ian but I don’t see why only the Americans should see what fine daffodils we grow in the North of England.
Ian or Len
Can you tell us a bit more about the farm, its history, how long the daffodils have been planted, what are the cultivars?
Hello James,
Len’s family have lived on the farm for 300 years and for the last 100 have grown daffodils for the cut flower industry. Len retired 10yrs ago when the price for a box of daffodils at Manchester flower market was so low it was not worth his while getting up at 4am each morning to pick them! If you need proof of this it’s not hard to find when you see bunches of daffodil for sale in M&S for £1 each.
Len has many Historic daffodils in his patch and over the last 10 yrs we have been identifying as many as possible. Two daffodils Inglescombe 4Y-Y and Irene Copland 4W-Y were thought lost to the nation until found at Fox Wist Farm. Many of the historic daffodils have been selected and moved into special areas and are now being exchanged for other historics with fellow growers.
Hope that’s helpful.
thank you very much Ian, how absolutely fascinating to hear about Len’s daffodils. We haven’t seen him for ages but I think about Len and his wife often and wonder how they are.
Any chance of them making an entry at Harrogate in the historic daffodil class to mark the centenary of the Harrogate Show? It’s for five blooms of at least three different cultivars raised before 1911.