The daffodils on your doorstep

Mar 1 2008 by Alison Young, South Wales Echo

A KENYAN brought up in New Zealand who lives in England is cutting 250,000 daffodils every week on his Welsh farm.

Nick Reynolds, 42, who began farming as a lad on his parents’ livestock holding in New Zealand, is now responsible for keeping many of us supplied with our weekly bunch of cut daffodils.

His Really Welsh Trading Company began growing daffodils in Wales after realising that most of our national blooms were being grown outside the Principality.

“The daffodil is Wales’ national emblem so it just made sense to grow them in Wales,” explained Nick.

Starting with 30 acres three years ago, the daffodil farm has now grown to cover 140 acres at Ewenny and Kenfig – with plans to double that size in the coming years.

Each week from January through to April, the Really Welsh daffodils are on sale at Tesco and Waitrose stores in Wales. And then in the autumn, the bulbs themselves go on sale – so gardeners everywhere can grow their own Really Welsh daffs.

It all begins in July and August when the first daffodil bulbs are planted into moist, weed-free soil.

“The most important day in the life of any daffodil bulb is the day it is planted,” explained Nick, who lives just over the English border, although his farm is in South Wales.

“The bulbs have to go into good moist soil that is free from disease, which gives the roots a chance to grow. If the soil is dry and compacted then it would be a waste of time planting.

“Daffodil bulbs are very susceptible to disease so you have to make sure they are all sound – just one soft bulb can spread disease to nearby ones.”

The bulbs are planted at an average depth of six inches and left to flower without being picked in their first spring, as this gives the bulb a chance to bulk up.

The following spring, 18 months after being planted the daffodils would be cut as stems and then in the autumn of that year, the bulbs would be lifted. “Some of the bulbs would be replanted and the rest would be sold to the public,” said Nick, who admits his favourite flower is the lily because of its scent. “I do like daffodils though – they are definitely my favourite spring flower,” he added.

The main tip he would give to gardeners is to not cut back their daffodils too soon after flowering.

“Very often people will want to tidy up after the flowers have bloomed but you really need to let the leaves and stems die back for as long as possible as this allows the bulb to bulk up,” he explained.

Not content with growing one of our national emblems, the Really Welsh Trading Company is also growing leeks at specially selected fields in Flintshire. “The soil in Flintshire is perfect for leeks – it’s very fertile and deep – which are perfect growing conditions for leeks.”

So if you are popping into Tesco’s today for your St David Day leek or daffodil, you can rest assured they will both have been grown in Wales.

And if it is a daffodil that you are looking for to pin on to your coat, the chances are that it will have come from a field just a few miles away.