The group’s members sell a variety of bulbs gathered from the Link Daffodil Gardens in Martinsville, Indiana.
Helen Link was a botanist and the former vice-president of the American Daffodil Society. She began planting daffodils on the 15 acre property in the 1940s and eventually began to hybridize her own cultivars like Lucy Jame, Tutu and Rainbow.
The society members dug more than 174 cultivars at the property this year, which is more than in recent years and means they will likely be able to raise more money for their scholarship fund, said Sara Kinney, the bulb sale chair.
The group typically gives out three $1,000 scholarships to college students every year. They are meant for students focused on subjects like biology, botany, landscape architecture or horticulture.
This year, Kinney said they might be able to give out a fourth scholarship due to the higher sales.
The group only has a farmers’ market table the last few weeks of summer because daffodil bulbs can’t be planted until the nights start to cool down.
“It’s the first thing that blooms with significant impact in the spring,” she said. “I think I have some seasonal affective disorder, so I’m so grateful when I see them blooming.”
Annie Garau
