It’s challenging (and technically illegal) to get a drive-by iPhone photo of the lovely daffodils blooming along the Golden Center Freeway between Grass Valley and Nevada City. But I wanted to give it a shot and comment about it before the next wave of rain and snow arrives to possibly end the flower show.
![IMG_0382-Daffodil Project copy](https://lovingnevadacounty.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/img_0382-daffodil-project-copy3-e1302041700652.jpg?w=225&h=300)
An eye-popping and highly effective mass planting of "Ice Follies" daffodils on the Golden Center Freeway.
We have the University of California Cooperative Extension (Nevada County Master Gardeners) to thank for planting thousands of narcissus along the freeway. With donations from the community, dedicated volunteer Master Gardeners and California Youth Authority wards from Washington Ridge CYA camp have planted 2,000-3,000 bulbs a year since 1989. Acres of embankment seem viable for more planting, but I’ve heard from some of the Master Gardeners that many sections are extremely hard to dig (lots of rocks and no topsoil) or too water-saturated in the spring, as on the west and northeast quadrants of the Brunswick Road interchange. Hopefully the daffodils keep coming. Even a hardcore native plant enthusiast and xeriscaper like me appreciates the effective simplicity of this highway beautification effort. It’s the epitome of carefree, water-wise landscaping in a county full of English-style cottage gardens and uninspired commercial landscapes that waste precious water, rely on herbicides and mowers, and ignore basic tenets of sustainability. But that’s a blog entry for another day…
My favorite section (pictured above) of the “Daffodil Project” is adjacent to the eastbound onramp at the Gold Flat Road over-crossing. Except for a couple all-yellow “King Alfreds,” this planting is all narcissus “Ice Follies.” The first time I saw this freeway planting come into bloom, I was mesmerized — even driving by at 60 m.p.h. — by the pale glow of these flowers backlit by the sun. It’s possibly the only place the sun works extra magic on the “Daffodil Project” plantings. Accidental or intentional, the Master Gardeners made excellent use of backlighting on a mass of identical flowers. You can’t do this anywhere. You have to view it slightly below and looking southward through the flowers toward the sun. Also, I love the very pale yellow (almost off-white) color of this large-flower “trumpet” daffodil type. To me, the pure yellow “King Alfreds” are so ubiquitous they verge on cliché. Then again, they’re among the most reliable and long-lived of the hundreds of daffodil varieties. Two other favorites of mine are N. “Mount Hood,” which is an all white “King Alfred,” and the smaller, more delicate, late-spring blooming N. “Thalia,” which is even paler white and very fragrant.
Since the mass-planted “Ice Follies” also stand out by being the only group of pale daffodils in the “Daffodil Project,” it might have been a mistake. It’s the Golden Center Freeway and we’re the Gold Country and the golden “King Alfreds” are, in many minds, the more appropriate daffodil for a highway beautification project. I prefer to think it was intentional because it works so well.
Besides beautifying an otherwise unremarkable landscape, the plantings demonstrate the value of truly mass planting — not just planting one clump, or even several dozen daffodils in a garden space; planting a BIG space, and planting them close together. This is an important aesthetic that is either lost on many gardeners, or not quite executed to best effect. It is a lot of work! Conceding that non-native bulbs are easier to buy and plant, than native wildflowers, a couple hundred, or even a thousand, daffodils, crocus, iris, grape hyacinth or tulips have the most stunning visual impact. In my mind, it’s homage to the spectacular colonies of wildflowers found in nature, especially in the West, where annual early-spring wildflowers are sometimes the only plants able to establish themselves in an otherwise arid, barren, summer-dormant landscape. Who doesn’t exclaim “ooooh!” when they drive by a hillside or meadow of bluish-purple lupines and California poppies in peak bloom?
Enjoy the daffodils, wildflowers and other spring bloomers while they last and be grateful for the people who create, maintain and project these landscapes.
I am a Master Gardener and would love to run a copy of this article to share with the public at plant sales and other MG events to encourage donations toward the purchase of bulbs for this ongoing project. May I please have your permission to do so. Thank you very much.