Daffodils in bloom earlier than usual

Hosts of golden daffodils are selling in shops across the country as an unseasonably warm winter has caused springtime’s floral favourite to make its earliest appearance in living memory.

Early-season Irish daffodils have arrived in supermarkets nearly three weeks ahead of the norm, according to Steven Devoy, flowers director at wholesaler Keelings.

“Usually we don’t start selling until the first week in February. I have been in the business almost 20 years and I have never seen a season like this – and neither have our growers.”

Mr Devoy said that while daffodils had started selling already they could have appeared even earlier. “There were some flowers ready for sale as early as November but we took the decision to leave them in the ground as there is no market for spring flowers in the run-up to Christmas,” he said.

Early departure

He suggested that from a retail perspective the early arrival of daffodils was good news as it came at a time when flower sales were typically sluggish. However, their early arrival may lead to an early departure as the flowering season could be significantly shortened come April. Mr Devoy also said there might be a break in availability if the current cold snap persisted.

The daffodil market in Ireland is worth about €3.5 million. The flower is a low-cost, high-volume product, and this €3.5 million translates into 35 million stems sold between now and the middle of April.

Some 80 per cent of all flowers grown here are exported daily by air to countries as far afield as the United States.