Daffodil shows move up the mid-Atlantic like flocks of robins in spring.
The generally start in Richmond and Winchester, Va., and move north to suburban Washington, Towson, Md., and Chambersburg, Pa. — basically following dates that should match peak narcissus season by locale.
There have been years when the folks who stage daffodil shows could be found at this point in April wringing their hands, after a month of precociously hot weather had blasted the best varieties and left the show benches adorned with a pretty thin assortment of late-season stragglers.
I was thinking of this the other day when I was in Bethesda, Md., in Bob Huesmann’s still cool, damp and wonderfully tardy daffodil garden, whose best blossoms were just beginning to emerge from their hibernation.
The spectacularly late spring has had the effect of compressing a normal daffodil season — if there is such a thing — from seven weeks or so to four or fewer. Rather than being a source of dismay, this rush has turned a dinner party into a feast with a rare overlapping of bloom periods for varieties that might otherwise have missed one another. This has been perfect timing for The Washington Daffodil Society’s 65th annual show, staged April 16-17 in Fairfax City, Va.