Wordsworth might have loved them, but it seems that the sight of a host of golden daffodils isn’t to everyone’s taste.
A leading environmental campaigner wants the flowers removed from the British countryside, saying they are “spoiling” our country lanes and woodlands and crowding out our native wild flowers.
Dr Andy Tasker, former head of the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, has even set up a website dedicated to eliminating the plant in the wild – ihatedaffodils.org.uk.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Dr Tasker said: “Some misguided individuals apparently believe it’s a good idea to plant all sorts of daffodil bulbs in places such as ancient woodlands, meadows and country lanes.
‘Well, they are wrong. They don’t look nice. It’s like putting lipstick on the Mona Lisa. Apart from the indigenous species, daffodils should be in only three places – in pots, in your garden and in Holland.”
The environmentalist insists that he has nothing against the daffodil – the national emblem of Wales – and his campaigning has more to do with protecting Britain’s native wild flowers. He stresses that he wants to stamp out “horrible, hybrid daffodils” in the wild, rather than the native wild daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus.
Predictably, Dr Tasker has faced strong criticism, not least from British daffodil growers, who produce millions of pounds worth of the plants every year.
Other experts also disagree with his verdict, including Terry Walton, resident gardener for Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show.
“This is absolutely mad. When I go around the country lanes and see them I think it’s wonderful. To many of us it’s how we know spring has arrived. “It’s rubbish to say they are harming other flowers. They give an early bit of colour and then die away, leaving plenty of space for the later-flowering wildflowers.”
There is also some argument over what constitutes a “native” flower, with evidence suggesting the traditional Welsh daffodil was actually introduced by the Romans around two thousand years ago.
Whether or not the daffodil is really a threat to British wild flowers, there are many other schemes aimed at protecting these species; an officer has recently been appointed as part of a 3 year project to catalogue and manage the wild flowers in the Cairngorms National Park, including the rare Twinflower.
If you can’t wait that long for the catalogue, there is an excellent wild flower resource at british-wild-flowers.co.uk with some great photography of native species.
