If you have been on Lundy in the spring, you would spot a plethora of daffodils. The first to spring up seem to be those at the bottom of the Steps of Doom / LFS steps.

Ian our island carpenter and MillCombe allotment holder loves flowers and photography, he shared with me some of his photos of the daffodils around the south of the island. This got me thinking about why there are all these different varieties and when they might have been planted. So like most things on Lundy there are experts, So I contacted Andrew Cleave to see if I could find more information.

Andrew agreed “that there were many varieties of daffodils on Lundy but that none of the daffodils are a true wild daffodil. And that they would all have been planted, probably starting with the Heaven family’s occupation and then by the Harman family. However the most significant daffodils are the ones in front of Belle View cottages and are known as ‘Primrose Peerless‘ which is one of the first known cultivars dating back to the 18 century. It is thought that sailors brought bulbs back from the Mediterranean and they are most common amongst North and South coasts of the Bristol Channel. Sometimes called the Severn sisters, they are commonly found in graveyards as well as on Lundy. it is twin flowered with a primrose coloured centre and usually grows in large patches.

With this information I went to Belle view cottages to get some photographs but sadly they had all gone past their flowering time!

Edit: Lundy visitors have provided me with these pics.

With so many great photos from Ian and a few extra from me, I offered up a challenge to Lundy staff to create something in honour of the daffodil for the month of April. I’m looking forward to seeing their responses.

Also some daffodil scenes again provided by visitors