Blooms of joy: daffodils are here at last

Let’s exhale together: winter is over. Even as the grey and drizzle continue to toy with our choices of outerwear, the daffodil’s sunshiney, trumpety fanfare heralds the start of spring. The yolky yellows and frilly pastels are a thrill to spot – from your car, in the park, on your own kitchen island. They bring a lot of joy for a small price. 

If – like us – you’re keen to soak up spring whenever and wherever you can get it, you’ll be popping £1 bunches in your basket fairly regularly. And you can now enjoy them all the more knowing that they are grown responsibly. As Ben Fogle put it on his visit to one of our farms: “At M&S, hand-picked British daffodils are about more than just looking good, because they’re grown with nature, not against it.”

M&S works with a British farm called Varfell in Penzance, Cornwall, to grow daffodils, as part of the Plan A for farming initiative which supports a resilient system. Fogle points out that at Varfell, “It all starts in the ground, using regenerative practices to support farms now and in the future.” Varfell uses a range of plant species in between the daffodil crop to increase soil fertility and improve its structure – healthier soil means healthier daffodils. And the farmers tend to their hedgerows to make sure they’re providing good habitats for wildlife. All of this is aimed at increasing biodiversity – and the impact of the work is measured by the worms in the soil and the birds in the sky.

So, take a deep breath and fill your vases with the frilliest, most jubilant harbingers of spring, safe in the knowledge that your British M&S daffodils are healthy and joyful, and that M&S growers are doing the work to protect nature for generations to come.