Times are stressful. Life is hard. Know what’s neither? Daffodils.
Daffodils, in case you didn’t know, are good. They’re yellow and cheerful, hardy and uncomplicated, and their appearance heralds one of the earliest markers of spring’s arrival.
Daffodils are good. That’s pretty much it — that’s the whole motivation behind Project Daffodil, a mass-planting of the flowers undertaken by the Camas/Washougal Garden Club for two years in a row.
“Everything is kind of crazy in the world right now, and if you can just drive by some daffodils and they make you smile — how awesome is that?” said Sherri Smith, co-president of the garden club.
Early on Oct. 27, a group of 22 volunteers gathered at Washougal Waterfront Park during a brief respite from the weekend’s rain. They planted 1,500 daffodil bulbs in the wood chip-covered areas, from the park’s entry sign to the picnic shelter.
The sunny flowers will likely start to bloom in early March, bringing joy to winter-weary passers-by.
It’s Project Daffodil’s second year. Smith pitched the idea to the club last year, and to her surprise members embraced the idea and ran with it.
“I lived in California for quite a few years and went to quite a few different towns that planted mass amounts of daffodils,” Smith said.
In autumn 2017 — after jumping through all the proper hoops at City Hall and the Washington State Department of Transportation — the crew planted around 800 sturdy, onion-like daffodil bulbs next to the welcome signs for Camas and Washougal along Highway 14.
The club got some positive feedback from community members surprised by the flowers’ appearance in the spring and Smith pushed the club to exceed 1,000 bulb donations this year, a goal they easily surpassed. She worked with the Port of Camas-Washougal to get the go-ahead to plant at the waterfront park.
“When I brought it to our club members, I wasn’t sure how well received it would be, and it’s nice to see the enthusiasm,” Smith said. “It’s kind of fun to have this little happy thing to think about.”
She’s aiming for the project to continue and expand its reach in the years to come.
“My hope is that we can also encourage the community, organizations, schools and businesses to get involved and participate by planting daffodils around their areas. Maybe even start a ‘Daffodil Challenge’ throughout the community,” Smith said.
Of all flowers, why daffodils?
They’re notoriously adaptable to different environments and tend to flourish in non-native areas without taking over the ecosystem. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, they can thrive in pretty much any climate in North America other than southern Florida.
They won’t need extra watering — Washington rain will more than suffice — but gardening club members will return around April to cut the flowers back once they dry out a little.
“They multiply. Gophers don’t like them, deer don’t like them, and they naturalize very well. They’re very low-maintenance,” Smith said.
