Stunning Daffodils peak from mid-March in The Royal Landscape, Windsor Great Park

15th March 2011

One of the most magnificent and largest displays of naturalised daffodils in England will peak in The Valley Gardens, part of The Royal Landscape within Windsor Great Park, from mid-March to the end of April.

Head of the Valley Gardens Graham Sanderson says:

“The Daffodil Valley marks the start of our internationally renowned Spring season at The Royal Landscape. From a scattering of bulbs and seeds fifty years ago, the daffodils have spread to become probably the largest display of their kind in England. The bigger areas contain Narcissus pseudonarcissus, the lent lily which is the largest of the three daffodil species (and the daffodil of Wordsworth’s famous poem). Narcissus bulbocodium, the hoop petticoat daffodil, is a trumpet shape and grows in the finer grass areas. Narcissus cyclamineus is small and deep yellow in colour with swept back petals and grows on the edge of wet ditches and boggy areas. The daffodils provide their brilliant colour for three to four weeks, flowering almost in sequence to keep the display going”.

In The Savill Garden, there are also drifts of dwarf daffodils and crocuses which enjoy the damp, sunny meadows through The Glades. This glorious display itself originated from just a small handful of seed donated more than 60 years ago and is only two minutes walk from the Garden entrance.

Additional displays have also been created at the entrance to The Savill Garden with the planting of 15,000 bulbs to create a dazzling succession of flowers including grape hyacinths, miniature daffodils and black tulips. In the Queen Elizabeth Temperate House, further drifts of bulbs, including scented hyacinths, will complement the tender camellias, rhododendrons and magnolias which flower at the same time.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

1. The Savill Garden is part of The Royal Landscape, which also includes the Valley Gardens and Virginia Water. It is one of England’s finest woodland and ornamental gardens with 35 acres of trees, shrubbery, ponds and streams, lawns, meadows and formal beds which are home to some of the world’s most decorative plants.

2. The Savill Garden is open all year (except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Admission prices to The Savill Garden Summer 2011 (March-October): Adults £8.50; Seniors £7.95; Groups (10+) £6.95; Children (6-16) £3.75; Coach Driver Free; Carers Free; Blue Badge Guides Free; Group organiser/leader Free (1 per group and Garden admission only).
3. The Valley Gardens can be accessed by car either by parking at The Valley Gardens Car Park or Virginia Water Car Park.
4. The Crown Estate is valued at £6.6 billion, including over 400 commercial properties in London and elsewhere, almost 146,000 hectares of agricultural land, forests, residential and commercial property in England, Scotland and Wales, over half of the UK’s foreshore, together with the seabed out to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit. All of The Crown Estate’s revenue surplus is paid directly to the Exchequer for the benefit of all UK taxpayers, and in 2009/10 this amounted to £210.7 million.
5. For more information call 01753 435 544 or visit www.theroyallandscape.co.uk

For more press information call Sarah Halstead, Marketing Dept, The Crown Estate, on 07918 121905 or email Sarah.Halstead@thecrownestate.co.uk