Julian Daffodil Show 2014
If anything marks springtime, it is the annual explosion of daffodils seen along the roads and hillsides of Julian in March and April. They range from little bouquets seen popping from roadside roosts to forests of yellow-green flowing in the grass, from the gentle countryside of Wynola Valley to the mountain pass of the Julian townsite. Wordsworth might have seen something like it when he penned:
“When all at once I saw a crowd
A host of dancing Daffodils;
Along the Lake, beneath the trees,
Ten thousand dancing in the breeze.”

Julian daffodils
The annual Julian Daffodil Show on Saturday, March 22–23, saw a thousand excited visitors breeze into the Town Hall on Main Street. The judging divisions celebrated all twelve classifications of daffodils, like the trumpets, the large and small cups, the double cups, the bell-shaped, the wind-swept, the hoop petticoat, and others including the wild species. In addition to the notable color flips–from yellow on white on some flowers while others show the opposite white on yellow–individual flower personalities, like streaks and flourishes, added to the enormous variety seen in the show. The brilliant yellows and oranges lit up the town hall; in a word, it was dazzling. On to next year with even better preparation, and hopefully a website dedicated to all the goings-ons that prepare for and stage this event.
Click on photos for enlargements and descriptions
The creator of the Julian Daffodil Project is Sally Snipes, a master gardener and professional art instructor, known particularly for her vibrant watercolors. The project began many years ago with the planting of a few bulbs in memory of her grandfather.
Update 01-31-2021: Check out the annual Julian Daffodil Show on the Julian Daffodils Facebook Page.
Daffodils reproduce new bulbs every year, so in addition to the original bulbs planted by Sally herself and those by the dedicated efforts of her growing legion of volunteers, the number of daffodils now coming into bloom each year is counted in the millions! The project has been contagious, with some area residents adding their own gardens to the legacy.
Photos by Barbara Swanson unless noted
Comments
Julian Daffodil Show 2014 — No Comments
HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>