Spring Daffodils at Blithewold Mansion | Where to See Daffodils in New England
Spring daffodils dazzle and take center stage at Rhode Island’s Blithewold.
While its rich collection of 500-plus species of trees and shrubs delights visitors year-round, in spring Blithewold hosts an exuberant display of more than 50,000 daffodils—notably clustered in the Bosquet, shown here.
Photo Credit : Allan Millora/BlithewoldEven when the frost and snow of late winter cling to the ground, the earth beneath our feet begins to warm. Daylight lengthens, and in the first days of April the daffodils awaken. Their bulbs pop open in hues of white and orange and their signature yellow, that startling burst of color that is like the sun reaching out to us from the ground up. We see the daffodils, and we feel lighter. We sense we now walk in springtime. It is why throughout New England there are special celebrations of this flower whose color is as fleeting and fragile as fall foliage. And nowhere does the daffodil beckon us to come see its show more than at Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum in Bristol, Rhode Island.
If you’ve been here during Blithewold’s annual Daffodil Days, which stretch throughout April and at times sneak a week or so into May, chances are you’ve come more than once, each time feeling you are seeing the estate and its gardens for the first time. But if you have never been here, this is what you will find: 33 acres with greenery and gardens that flow down from behind an elegant English-style manor to the shore of Narragansett Bay. The Bosquet, a shady grove of trees, throbs with color. Some 50,000 daffodils—in dozens of varieties with names like “Little Gem,” “Ice Follies,” and “King Alfred”—spread like a blanket across the landscape. There’s a bamboo grove, stone walls, a Japanese rock and water garden, and greenhouses, plus sea breeze and birdsong in the air. You are here now, but also in another century.
When you tour the 45-room mansion, you will learn from docents that this estate’s beauty and feeling of repose was created partly in response to tragedy. Augustus and Bessie Van Wickle bought the property in 1894, naming it Blithewold, Old English for “happy woodland.” Augustus was a sportsman who loved the sea and forest, and only four years after building the mansion he died in a skeet shooting accident. His wife, Bessie, and later their daughter Marjorie poured their love of place and beauty and horticulture into the grounds. When you walk the pathways of the Great Lawn, edged by stonework created with landscape architect John DeWolf, and see flowers in bloom by the bay, you are seeing what they saw and wanted generations to see after them: their “happy woodland” bursting with color when the breezes of spring beckon new life. blithewold.org
—Mel Allen
Where else to see daffodils in New England:
Laurel Ridge Daffodils:
Some 15 acres of daffodils planted here eight decades ago invite you to feel springtime under your feet with each photo you take. Litchfield, CT; see Facebook for bloom updates
Meriden Daffodil Festival:
What began in 1978 as a community event to welcome spring has bloomed into a festival in beautiful Hubbard Park with half a million daffodils and festivities. Last weekend in April; Meriden, CT; daffodilfest.com
Nantucket Daffodil Festival: Flower power
lights up the island as
three million daffodils
adorn the landscape, but showstoppers also crop up along cobblestone streets with window displays, events, and gaudy yellow costumes worn by visitors and islanders alike. April 27–30; Nantucket, MA; daffodilfestival.com
Parsons Reserve: Thousands of daffodils planted during World War II bring visitors to this 32-acre nature preserve, whose beauty includes walking trails and benches for restful viewing. Dartmouth, MA; dnrt.org/parsons
New England Botanical Garden at Tower Hill: A spring highlight is the “Field of Daffodils,” where 25,000 daffodils bloom from the third week of April into early May. Boylston, MA; nebg.org
Newport Daffodil Days:
Held throughout the
month of April, this event celebrates the million-plus bulbs planted by volunteers over the years that flourish throughout downtown, but also along the Cliff Walk and Easton’s Beach. Newport, RI; discovernewport.org
Mel Allen
Mel Allen is the fifth editor of Yankee Magazine since its beginning in 1935. His first byline in Yankee appeared in 1977 and he joined the staff in 1979 as a senior editor. Eventually he became executive editor and in the summer of 2006 became editor. During his career he has edited and written for every section of the magazine, including home, food, and travel, while his pursuit of long form story telling has always been vital to his mission as well. He has raced a sled dog team, crawled into the dens of black bears, fished with the legendary Ted Williams, profiled astronaut Alan Shephard, and stood beneath a battleship before it was launched. He also once helped author Stephen King round up his pigs for market, but that story is for another day. Mel taught fourth grade in Maine for three years and believes that his education as a writer began when he had to hold the attention of 29 children through months of Maine winters. He learned you had to grab their attention and hold it. After 12 years teaching magazine writing at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, he now teaches in the MFA creative nonfiction program at Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Like all editors, his greatest joy is finding new talent and bringing their work to light.
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