Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2017 | Page 70

Country life
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Photo: Daffodils by Neil Aldridge
A host of golden daffodils
By Lianne de Mello, Hampshire
& Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
Daffodils are a springtime favourite for many gardeners, but
their wild cousins positively glow at this time of year. The yellow
trumpets of daffodils brighten up the dullest spring day as they
cluster together in gardens, on roadsides and roundabouts, and in
parks. But these are often the planted or escaped garden varieties.
The real treat is spotting a wild daffodil amongst the
dappled shade of an ancient woodland or pushing up
through the grasses of a damp meadow.
These hosts of wild daffodils grow in wild profusion
and are smaller and much more delicate and
understated than their brash cultivated cousins. They
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are the forgotten champions of a woodland in spring.
Once abundant and hand-picked for markets, these
wild flowers are now much rarer, having declined
during the 19th century as a result of habitat loss.
However they are still one of our most common
wildflowers in England and Wales.