Preparations for the daffodil display from Taylors Bulbs at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show are under way at their farm in Lincolnshire. Bulbs harvested last July are now in the glasshouse and will grow rapidly from a few inches tall to medal winning blooms in a matter of days.

Fresh from winning his 31st consecutive Premier Gold at the Harrogate Spring Show, Johnny Walkers (pictured at Harrogate last week-end) and his team at Taylors are anxiously waiting, watching and hoping that the daffodils will lead to their 23rd consecutive gold medal at Chelsea.

The Harrogate display is traditionally made with flowers from the field. Johnny, his wife Rosemary and Sallyanne Foreman (otherwise customer services manager at Taylors) between them crop 5000 stems in sometimes miserable weather. “This year tested our resilience, especially the occasion when we were peppered with hale just about as far from the car as we could be”, said Johnny. “But we were delighted with the results and had a particularly high number of fragrant varieties at the show this year. They caused a lot of interest from visitors.”

The Chelsea display of approximately 90 varieties and 2500 flowers is the result of 15,000 flowers grown in controlled conditions every year especially for the show. Varieties from February Gold which, as the name suggests, normally flowers in the garden in February, through to Pheasant’s Eye, the old fashioned favourite that flowers in early May, can be on display.

Sallyanne explained how he bulbs were selected after harvest in August held in the warm before planting after Christmas and kept temperature controlled in the cold store. “They are brought into the greenhouse four weeks before Chelsea.  In the first week we see leaf growth and the flowers beginning to form. The initial stages are crucial for bud development and stem length but mother nature always throws something different at us each year. It never fails to keeps us on our toes!”