Growing a Love of Daffodils

By Beth Monroe, Public Relations and Marketing Director, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

Daffodil enthusiast Margaret Ford

Margaret Ford is on a mission. She wants to insure future generations love daffodils as much as she does. A long-time, active member of the Virginia Daffodil Society, Margaret is a driving force behind the Junior Artistic Arrangement Show. As part of that effort, more than 20 Girl Scouts in fourth and fifth grade came together this year for a workshop the afternoon before the Annual Virginia Daffodil Society Show at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

Girl Scouts working on their arrangements

I was fortunate to be present as a Garden employee and a mom of one of the Scouts. The room was a sea of green and gold as the girls learned about daffodils and some basics of floral design. Margaret moved from table to table, handing out bunches of blooms like a daffodil fairy godmother.

The Virginia Daffodil Society supplied daffodils for the workshop

The Scouts immediately set to work, using pencils to make holes in the oasis foam for the daffodils’ tender stalks. They mixed and matched branches, greens and other plant material gathered from home gardens. Some embellished arrangements using colorful, curled pipe cleaners.

At the end of the workshop, the finished baskets were lined up on the stage in the Garden’s auditorium. Seen this way, the creativity and diversity of each one was evident. Margaret took the time to photograph every girl with her respective arrangement, pausing to offer compliments.

Each arrangement showed creativity and diversity

Driving home, I asked my daughter if she had enjoyed herself and what she had learned. “It was fun,” she said. “I learned there are eleven different classifications of daffodils.” I was impressed.

The girls began to explore other uses for daffodils!

Each girl will receive a Girl Scout patch for her efforts. And if Margaret has her way, they’ll have something much more — a life-long love of daffodils.

You can see the Junior Artistic Arrangement Show at the Virginia Daffodil Society Show on Saturday, April 5, 2014,  from 2 – 5 p.m. and Sunday, April 6, 2014, from 10 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. The show is included with regular Garden admission.