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    • Sep 13, 2022

The Daffodils Arrive

The history of the daffodil in Gloucester County, Virginia is almost as old as the county itself. When Gloucester was formed in 1651 from part of York County the early settlers brought these soft reminders of English springs as they established themselves in the area. The soil and weather conditions were ideal for daffodils. The bulbs were passed from neighbor to neighbor and spread from the orderly beds and burying grounds of the great houses to the fields. Some, such as the hardy Trumpet Major variety, seemed to thrive on neglect. By the beginning of the 20th century daffodils grew wild in the untended fields of Gloucester. It is from this abundance of natural beauty that grew the extensive daffodil industry which earned the county the title “Daffodil Capital of America” in the 1930s and 40s.


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In 1938 the first daffodil tour was proposed jointly by the Gloucester Rotary Club and the Gazette-Journal. The Gloucester board of Supervisors appropriated $50 for expenses of the “First Annual Narci

World War II briefly cut off the supply of foreign bulbs, restricted transportation, and severely limited the labor force, but after the war, daffodil growing resumed with a vengeance. New plantings w

Until 1926 Dutch bulbs dominated the eastern market, other than in Baltimore. It was in that year the biggest boost came to the Virginia industry when a microscopic worm infested the bulbs in Holland

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