Where to Photograph Daffodils

Daffodils can be found in the UK countryside any time from late February to early April. The exact flowering date will depend on the weather, a warm spring will prompt the flowers to come out earlier. Because of the time of year that they are about they can also be referred to as 'Lent Lillies'.

Daffodils are easy to grow and come in many different shapes and colours and with careful selection can bloom for four months of the year. The scientific name for them comes from the Greek God 'Narcissus', who is said to have looked into a pool, saw his reflection and fell in love with himself. Because there are so many types they are usually divided into 13 groups and this is done based on those having more or less the same floral characteristics. There are not so many of the wild varieties left in the UK today, however on a trip to some areas of Cornwall it is likely that you will see fields of them as this is a hot spot for the cultivated versions we tend to see in the shops.

Wild Daffodils usually carry their head slightly bowed which can be a challenge if you want to take close up's like the cultivated one I photographed shown above. They are a woodland wild flower and adapt well to open pastures where they often provide vista displays in some parts of the UK countryside. The genuine wild variety in Britain have two-tone yellow flowers, narrow trumpets and forward pointing petals and are concentrated in the Lake District, North Yorkshire, Gloucestershire and Devon.

Daffodils both wild and cultivated can be found in gardens, parks, along the roadside, woodlands and picked ready to put in a vase in your home from supermarkets and the high street.

Daffodils have inspired many including the famous writers and the poet, Wordsworth, wrote probably the most frequently recited lines of poetry today, "I wandered lonely as a cloud". He probably did, you probably won't. The daffodils he referred to were discovered on a walk in the woods at Gowbarrow Park overlooking Ullswater and adjacent to the Aira Force Waterfall, which tumbles 70 feet down a rocky ravine before joining the Ullswater Lake, where they still flower today.

The Daffodil is the National Emblem of Wales. It became the emblem of Wales when the Victorians decided to pin a daffodil in their button holes on St David's Day instead of the traditional leek, to celebrate their Patron Saint. The tradition goes that the Victorian females did not like the perfume that was given off by the Leek and wanted something more floral, the daffodil was chosen as it signified the start of spring and the lambing season. There are two varieties unique to Wales, the Tenby, with a small orange flower and unsurprisingly common in fields surrounding Tenby, South Wales. The other variety is the Welsh, a delicate flower of an orange trumpet with yellow petals. In 2005 a special variety, Narcissus Cardiff was specially bred to commemorate Cardiff's 50th year as the capital of Wales.

As well as being the emblem for Wales, the Daffodil is also used by the cancer charity, Marie Curie Cancer Care as their emblem and during March each year they run a fund raising appeal with TV adverts and events called The Great Daffodil Appeal. The purpose of the appeal is to get everyone across the UK to remember the great work their nurses do for those you are having to live with cancer and encourage us to give a donation in return for a daffodil badge.

An Unusual Fact

The 200 islands of the Isles of Scilly have been a part of the Duchy of Cornwall since it's foundation in the 14th century. It owns the freehold of most of land and nearly a third of the residential buildings on the islands. They were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1975 and the AONB and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust work closely together to mange all the untenanted land, uninhabited islands and rocks are leased to it by the Duchy. The trust pays a rent to the Duchy of one daffodil per year!

Where to See and Photograph Daffodils

So where will you find Daffodils, well in the UK just about anywhere. In gardens, along the roadside, in shops, town and country parks, village greens, woodlands and many visitor attractions. We have three lists available of some of the good visitor attractions you can find them covering:-

Where to Photograph Daffodils in England