Twenty-fifth Anniversary=250,000 Daffodils

When I found out that Salt Lake City's Red Butte Garden & Arboretum was planting

250,000 daffodils

in honor of their twenty-fifth year as a garden, I just about went crazy.

I've been dropping by the garden every few days since March, waiting for the peak of the flowers bloom.
This Sunday, April 18th was THE day, as far as I could tell.

The sky was bright, the air was warm, and off I went, determined to photograph

ALL

250,000

blooms.

I felt sorry that you all couldn't be here to see them in person.

I know, it was quite a task, but imagine how sad it would be for any of the daffodils to not get their picture taken.

It just wouldn't be right.

I had never seen a daffodil like this one before. It was a biggie, and no center "trumpet" form to be seen. It was almost like seeing my Persian grandkitties with their flat faces.

Right away I got interested in comparing daffodil sizes.

Two of these little gems were barely as big as one of my fingers.

Let's see...I had four daffodils total in the previous picture.

This one has 94, so we are almost done with the first one hundred blooms...

The white ones with the palest of apricot centers and a yellow eye seem so sophisticated.

The regular yellow/deeper yellow combo seems like an old friendly face by comparison.

Yellow on yellow: Monochromatic coloration is classy too.

Forty four blooms in this shot.

(I really ought go get a pencil and paper; I'm going to start losing count any moment now.)

Um...225 blooms?

I might have missed a couple.

You go ahead and count if you want to check my count.

I must admit that this variety troubled me.

So tiny, and it looked exactly like a dandelion to me.

I thought it was a weed when I first saw it.

Someone must have worked very hard to genetically modify or breed this variety.
Maybe it will grow on me if I look at it a few more times.

The green petals are kind of unusual....

Let's just call it 300 even.

And another three hundred.

A three headed specimen.

So tiny, yet there's a bouquet on a single stem.

The flat faced red and yellow combo vs. the long faced orange and yellow combo.

Which do you like best?

Oh...I'd say around 400 in this shot.

(I like the red-orange centered one myself.)

The ruffle, stamin pattern and outer petal pleat is so dramatic.

Look how l-o-n-g those yellow noses are!
I do wish Red Butte had labeled their daffodils, or printed a guide for me to use.

I'd like to know the name of this variety.

By the by..."Butte" is pronounced with a long "u"...and it sound like you haven't quite finish saying the "tee" part in the word "beauty".

For some reason, the non-female part of the population of my family all seem to prefer to pronounce it as "Butt".

As in "Are you going to go see Red Butt again?"

Boys. Men. Guys.

Gotta love 'em.

Ahem.

Sorry about that little digression.

There were lots of trees in bloom at the garden too; but right now we are concentrating on the daffodils.

Would somebody else mind counting the daffodils in the picture above?

Maybe we could just fudge a little and say there were 400 in that picture.

Why are some so big and others smaller, yet they look like the same variety.

Are they the same variety?

Or did the big bloom's bulb just manage to be planted somewhere with more nutrients?

(I should go and ask if I could have a private tour with one of the people who works there so I could know the answer to these sort of questions.)

It was in the high 70's while I was walking around taking all these pictures. That bench was put to good use for a bit.

I had showered and washed my hair just before I went there; by the time I left the grounds my hair was soaked and I had to shower up again.

Anything over 50 F. feels way too warm to me this early in the year.

What do you think...300?

At least that many.

All throughout the grounds there are benches and tables and chairs tucked into nooks and crannies, and at the bends of the paths.

There were a lot of couples around my age with picnic baskets and bottle of white wine, enjoying the end of the weekend together on the first really warm day of spring.

The garden is only 15 minutes from our house; I'm thinking I'm going to join in on that kind of date with B. really soon.

Such long petals, and such a tiny nose.

Rather exotic looking don't you think?

What do you say?

150?

I am CRAZY about this variety.

That white ruffled collar looks like it should be on girl's yellow dress.

Like the peachy ones...

They are pretty good sized.

What I couldn't figure out was why there were not hoards of families out with their children.

Seriously...isn't this scene missing some sweet children posing for an annual picture, bending over to examine the flowers, or sitting cross legged surrounded by chest high blooms?

I may have to ask if I can borrow the 15 month old girl next door.

She would be adorable in this scene.

There's even a small path that would be just right for a small child to walk upon.

This one: so tiny I could wear it atop a finger like a jewel.

Now there was one bride in another area getting her pictures taken next to a tree awash in white blooms.

Why wasn't there engaged couples having their pictures taken under this arbor?

It is interesting how some of the daffodil varieties have petals that sweep backwards.

They seem to be flying fast somewhere.

Daffodils as roses...

Of course I really tried to catch the sunlight shining through the blooms so they would appear to glow.

As big as my whole hand!
I had never seen such huge daffodils before.

All of the daffodils in this scene were the palm sized variety.
Again: I really, really want to know the variety's name!

Moments after I shot this picture Julie Andrews came into view, spinning with her arms outstretched and singing "The hills are alive...with the sound of music..."

Actually that is partly true.

Red Butte does have an amplitheater and some of the top vocalists in the country come in summer to perform.

I'm eyeing Mary Chapin Carpenter and Nora Jones tickets in August.

Or maybe Steve Martin performing bluegrass music in June.
I'm still making up my mind.

Wedding.

Definitely the perfect daffodil for a wedding.

The bare trees seem so stark compared to the daffodils.

There had to be about 600 daffodils in this picture.

And another six hundred in this one...

I think I'm pretty close to getting all 250,000 flowers photographed.

These remind me of flying geese, with the necks stretched out far ahead of their wings.
Those center noses are really long.

I wonder what variety has the longest center form.

How long is too long?

Afterall, they have bred daffodils with no noses; is there a limit to how long the noses can be?

I think I have seen varieties like this one, only with a green ring instead of the salmon colored ring.
Gosh it must be fun to know how to cross breed daffodils and see what their blooms wind up looking like.

I'm saying about 1,000 in this shot.

28 here.

Hundred.

Two.

Four hundred and seventy nine.

(Don't believe me? You count 'em then!)

Lots.

Lots and lots.

Three finger wide variety.

Hand width wide variety.

(Isn't that gigantic???)

They are just as curious about seeing you as you are about seeing them....

I'm seeing a woman in a crisp white suit with an tangerine silk scarf tied at the throat.

White pumps too...

Well, I think I got a picture of all of the daffodils.

If I missed any, I do apologize.

On the other hand, why don't you plan to come see them for yourself next year?

I'll go along with you; it is hard to keep track of daffodil count when you are taking pictures all by yourself!

PS: If you would like to see a site that has daffodils with their names, check out Gotta Garden by clicking HERE. Totally amazing collection of daffodil varieties, just scroll down through her site as she posts pictures of the varieties in her garden as they bloom.