Millions of Daffodils, and More!
Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at 11:00PM One's senses can hardly process the grandeur of the impressive sweep of daffodils - waves of them covering hills and lining paths through the woods, edging streams and covering meadows - for which Gibbs Gardens in northern Georgia is noted.
Last year when I visited in April, I missed the daffodils, advertised to number 20 million. While the April scenery was spectacular, I wanted to go back in March this year to see those daffodils. Did I see 20 million? Not quite. It seems the daffodils are planted so there are successive blooms of early, mid, and late blooming varieties. I saw the mid bloomers, so about a third - only 6 to 7 million, with lots of foliage to attest to the presence of the other 13 million. No complaints from me; it was wonderful! Here are images of all those daffodils, and more!
While the mass of daffodils is inspiring, one could not fully appreciate their beauty without stoping to examine individual blooms.
Tulips were also blooming, thousands! The largest display attracted so many people it was impossible to get an image that didn't include lots of people, all taking advantage of the perfect photo opportunity. I finally decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! I don't know the people in the following picture, but I couldn't resist a shot of this group taking a selfie.
More images of Gibbs Gardens in March:
Cherry trees were blooming.
Gibbs gardens has some interesting rock formations. Turtle Rock is one of my favorites:
Here is the world's largest Bonsai!
A couple more structurally interesting trees:
Some great sculptures of Mr. Gibbs' grandchildren:
Finally, some more pretty March blooms:
Clockwise from top left:Camellia 'Peppermint'; Kerria japonica; Piers japonica; Trillium (unidentified variety).For additional information about Gibbs Gardens and for photos of it in its April glory, see my previous post Gibbs Gardens, a World-Class Garden in North Georgia. As you can see, one visit is not enough!
Reader Comments (13)
Dazzling. What can one say about such a monoculture. The statues are so sweet capturing the personalities with movement.
Hm. Interesting how Lisa in her comment above used the word 'monoculture'. Maybe that's the reason I'm somewhat ambivalent about seeing these massive sweeps of millions of bulbs. Impressive, yes. But not a sight that thrills my heart, personally.
On the other hand, that World's Largest Bonsai is rather interesting. Were they any supports? (I can't see any in the photos.) If not, it seems amazing to me that it has not toppled over!
I think the daffodils are amazing, such a beautiful springtime scene.
I love to see drifts of flowers as they appear in the wild, to me they are very natural and I don't think of them as monoculture.
Seven million Daffs and much more to come, that is impressive and worth the visit. I think I have a total of 200, only Jetfire in full bloom so far.
I remember seeing the Gibbs Garden daffodils featured on TV many years ago (in the days when the "G" in HGTV meant something). The display is glorious! I enjoyed the photos of the largest "bonsai" tree too. The photo of the heron (?) sculptures replected in the water is marvelous too, I hope you're enjoying a wonderful spring, Deb!
I've been to Gibbs Garden a few times but never during daffodil time. It does have it's own unique impact. They are known for their mass plantings (monoculture). daylilies, crape myrtles, Japanese maples, etc. I think the gardens make for good photo ops and it pulls many photographers, especially the Japanese garden. I have to admit that this isn't my favorite garden, simply because I am a native plant advocate and this garden celebrates ornamentals and is a bit sterile in terms of supporting wildlife. But that's just me. Did you have that feeling too?
Hi everyone! Happy spring and thanks for visiting and taking time to comment. Aaron, there were no supports on the World's Largest Bonsai. It is a full size pine tree, and it seems to defy gravity. I stood there in amazement! Karin, Gibbs is definitely an ornamental rather than native garden, but with 300 acres and a large variety of plantings, as well as many natural wooded areas and streams, I did not feel that it was sterile. We saw and heard birds, bees, and even a couple of snakes. I would be interested to know what products they use for fertilizing and pest control. I wish I had asked! I think artificial chemicals in a garden of that size would have a greater impact on wildlife than their choice of ornamental plantings. Deb
Such an amazing garden! I love daffodils. My first one of the season just started blooming here, so our season is just starting... I love the heron statues and the bonsai, too. That bonsai is so cool!
Oh! that's wonderful Debbie. Thank you so much for showing all the wonderful Narcissus. The sights of hundreds or thousands of daffodils id one of the things I miss not seeing now that I don't live in the UK. There every garden, roadside and roundabout has a good display, not to mention all the parks and large country houses that are open to the public.
Those sculptural pieces of the kids are priceless! I was just in Georgia a week ago, but we didn't make it beyond the Savannah area. Next time I visit, I'll have to check out more of the state, including Gibbs Gardens. What an amazing collection of Daffodils and Tulips!
Daffs are my very, very favorite flower. I have tried to go several times but it never works out. I just have to go next year.
Oh wow! So stunning blooms en masse like that!
I love the cheerful sight of all those daffodils! A number of years ago, I had a student who grew big sweeps of daffodils at her house. When April came,she would bring buckets full of cut daffodils to school and give them away to faculty. What a treat!