This morning I saw my first daffodils of the year in Victoria Park in Glasgow. It might seem unlikely, but today's popularity of these Spring blooms is all down to a man called Peter Barr. Born in Govan in 1826, Barr became enchanted with the yellow blooms, which had fallen out of fashion in the Victorian era, partly due to the Queen's dislike of them.
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By the 1860s, he'd established an extensive nursery in Tooting in London and had become known as the Daffodil King due to the number and varieties he grew. He sougth out forgotten daffodils from old collections and went on expeditions, primarily to the Iberian Peninsula, to collect new ones from the wild. In all, he amassed over 400 varieties which he cultivated and classified.
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Unsurprisingly, he has a daffodil variety named after him, but what might be less expected is that the first examples of it sold in 1903 (just a few years before Barr died in 1909) for the equvalent of over £7,000 per bulb in today's money. So as Spring approaches and the daffodils start to appear in earnest in parks and gardens across the city, just remember if it wasn't for a boy from Govan, they're a sight we probably wouldn't see nearly as often as we now do.
I'm a daffy fanatic. First colorful sign of Spring. Ours here in NEPA won't be up until April. They grow near-wild in the woods behind my house. Gonna plant more in front this year.
When I lived in South Carolina, the ones we planted along our walk came up in February. 🙂
This Is My Glasgow
Chris Hessert