We refer to our area as the Golden Triangle because of our annual displays of wild daffodils in spring, But we can equally well lay claim to being “Golden” for the liquid gold cider and perry made from our autumn apple and pear harvests.
Though I’ve long known how important both top fruit and daffodils are to our local culture and ecology, I only recently found out how closely the two were linked and how traditional farming methods still evident in the Golden Triangle have supported and revived our local ecology.
Our local native daffs narcissus pseudonarcissus likely first emerged as the last ice age receded, around 10,000 years ago.
Back then, the whole area would have been forested, with mainly deciduous trees, making the damp, dappled shade environment that daffs love.
Fast forward a few thousand years and the land starts to be cleared for agriculture. Not so great for our daffs – drier, more exposed ground, less shade and constant disturbance of the soil are not a daffodil’s ideal situation.
But there would still have been plenty of woodland around. And in the 1700s with land enclosure at its peak hedgerows started to proliferate – once again providing havens for the daffs.
The great thing about a daffodil bulb is that it has the ability to lie dormant for many, many years. So if left undisturbed in grassland, pasture or meadow, a daffodil bulb which finds itself in an inhospitable situation for flowering can simply wait it out – and re-emerge in all its glory when conditions improve.
And this is where our apples and pears and pigs come in. Apples have been grown here since Roman times, if not earlier, and by the 13th century cultivation was a mainstay of the rural scene. At that time tithes could be paid in cider and some babies were baptised in cider as it was cleaner than most available water.
In the 1600s Viscount Scudamore of Holme Lacey was a great patron of the cider apple and by the 1800s threats to British farming from cheap foreign imports – including apples from the US – prompted Prime Minister William Gladstone to urge British farmers to improve and extend their orchards as a way to diversify and compete.
The traditional apple or pear orchard makes a great home for daffodils, and indeed many wild flowers. Traditional management methods see trees widely spaced allowing for grazing or haymaking between and beneath.
Where orchards are grazed stock is introduced in July to crop the grass making collection of the cider windfalls easier in the autumn. Special breeds of “orchard” pigs and sheep are used – those inclined to clear the grass without stripping the trees. Breeds include the Gloucester Old Spot. And legend has it that the spots on her back are actually bruises caused by falling apples.
In traditional orchard management livestock is withdrawn from the orchards from harvest time and will not return til early summer the following year. Giving the daffodils time to grow, flower, set seed and spread.
Our orchards declined dramatically in the later half of the 20th century. Thankfully we are now seeing a resurgence of interest in local cider and perry – restoration of old orchards and traditional style planting of new ones is a part of that, but there is still much work to do.
An understanding of how traditional orchard management allows daffodils and other wild flowers to flourish now informs the management of increasing areas of public space: verges, commons, motorway and railway embankments, churchyards and parks – you’ll see the results as you explore the Golden Triangle this spring.
And it’s not just about pretty, it’s important too. Cultivated daffodils in your garden don’t support much wildlife, many of them are hybridised to the point of sterility, offering little or no nectar or pollen. Not so the wild daffodil, these along with all our spring wildflowers are important sources of sustenance for pollinators especially early bumble bees as they emerge from hibernation.
Because wild daffodils spread slowly and are easily disturbed the presence of an established population is a good indicator of healthy soils, rich in the fungal, microbial and invertebrate life which is the start of the food chain that nourishes us all. There is so much we don’t yet know about how all plants and animals on the planet work together and support one another: but we do know our daffodils are not just a pretty spring face – they’re important.
