Daffodils in bloom a year ago on River Road in Red Bank.
By LAURA KOSS
Nothing welcomes spring like daffodils, those happy yellow fellas that seem to pop up everywhere this time of year.
“They’re
the most cost-effective and pest-resistant perennial there is,” says Pam Sutton, design chairperson at the Navesink Garden Club. Squirrels, gophers, and deer don’t eat daffs, she notes.
Perhaps as a result of its ubiquity, Sutton says, “we take the daffodil for granted, because its been around forever.”
Well, the garden club has a cure for that, with the third annual edition of the Daffodil Flower Show next Tuesday, April 14, at Red Banks Trinity Episcopal Church auditorium.
Of the hundreds of varieties, colors, and sizes of daffodils, one of the most popular is the “King Alfred” trumpet.
The four-inch-diameter, bright yellow bloom balances on a 20-inch stem while some varieties grow no taller than six.
Club president Kathleen Panepinto says the King Alfred is the variety she sees most often at the show. She expects no change this year.
Anyone may enter a daffodil, and all entries are free. Flowers are accepted from 9:30 to 10:30a the day of the show, and judging begins at 11a. The event will then be open to the public from 1 to 3p.
The flowers will be judged by National Accredited Flower Show judges, and ribbons will be awarded to first- through fourth-place winners.
The Navesink Garden Club’s 50 or so members actively beautify the community year-round. Between monthly meetings, scholarship fundraisers, maintaining gardens at Red Bank’s middle and primary schools and planting for Habitat for Humanity, they still manage to squeeze in a little time for their own gardens.
They always have their eyes peeled for local talent. From time to time, Panepinto says an unsuspecting property owner is honored with the clubs “Random Sightings of Beauty” award.
“We dont go in search of these properties,” says Panepinto, but sometimes, “one catches our eye.”
For more information about the club and its programs, contact Ronnie Lander at 732.671.9395.
