Daffodil Field
There are a few areas of the island, such as a field which we call Daffodil Field, which has regular mounds on the ground. These are old flower beds, where daffodils were grown to sell locally and at Covent Garden in London.
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Other areas of the island now have trees on them, but the mounds in the ground are still visible, including Penelope Park
Flower bed mounds near Penelope Park
Florence Van Raalte was inspired by the daffodil industry on the Isles of Scilly to bring daffodils to Brownsea. 14 acres of the island was given to the daffodil industry, and during the daffodil harvest season in March and April, almost all the islanders were involved. As well as picking, tying and boxing the flowers for their journey off the island, another aspect of the industry involved ploughing out the bulbs for sale. Jack Battrick provides an account in his Brownsea Islander (1978) of what the islanders got up to in Daffodil Season.
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Daffodil Field in Summer (above) and Spring (below)
Day in the Life in Daffodil Season
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Morning until sunset—Picking
Daffodils in the fields
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After tea—flowers were taken to
islanders homes where families spent all evening putting them in bunches of 12. Over 750 bunches would be gathered each night.
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Overnight—2 men would come
round with a cart to collect all the bunches, and put them in water in the barn until sunrise
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Sunrise—the bunches were placed
into boxes, and loaded onto a boat to take them to the mainland to begin their journey to Covent Garden in London.
The industry ended when Mrs Bonham-Christie sent all the island residents away when she bought the island. She wanted it to be taken over by nature. In the Springtime, you can still see lots of Daffodils today, because the bulbs kept producing flowers after the farming stopped.
Gallery
© National Trust
© National Trust/Simon Lee
© National Trust