THE OTHER WEEKEND, in that window of typical warm and windy March
weather sandwiched between No. unrelenting blasts of unseasonable arctic cold,
Mary Price and I made a long-desired pilgrimage to a town where they have
planted almost enough daffodils.
Camden, Ark., a small, history filled town nestled in the bend of the Ouachita
River not too far southwest of Little Rock, has had a Daffodil festival for
the last 15 years. The oldest Daffodil Festival in the United States is the
one on Nantucket; heralding back half a century. But Camden’s Daffodil
Festival must be "Nantucket West" (or Central; if there is a Daffodil Festival
on the West Coast no one has told us about.)
The Camden Daffodil Festival began, as so many great things do, as the dream
of a small group of flower loving, daffodil-growing individuals, centered
around the enthusiasm and energy of Roxanne and Dennis Daniel, who actually
hosted the festival in the fields in front of their home on Maul Road six
years. The sheer power of this event precipitated a move into downtown Camden
seven years ago which has just meant more daffodils and daffodil focused
events for everyone.
We arrived about noon on Friday and stayed until Sunday morning, doing the whole
tourist bit. Festival headquarters is the Methodist Church, whose great hall
offers cookies and coffee or tea, and tables to sit and rest and snack,
meanwhile enjoying the array of quilts artfully hung from the balcony of the
running track above, and the daffodil painting exhibit to one side, Here, too,
we acquired maps and directions, and could catch the vans which shuttled us on
the tours both of historic homes and beautiful gardens.
The whole project is manned by volunteers, literally by the hundreds. I
decided what my volunteer job would be, if I lived there, when I listened to
them tell about bringing thousands of cut daffodil blooms to the great hall
two days earlier, and apportioning them into clear vases, to adorn every shop
window, every restaurant table, every cash register counter in the center of
the community.
That kind of flower arranging I could handle, and would thoroughly enjoy.
DOWNTOWN CAMDEN is like many a festival, with kiosks and displays down
the center of the main streets (all named for United States presidents, it
seems). Everything tourists might want was somewhere to be found. Mary and I,
plus Gene and Janis Watkins, daffodil enthusiasts from Flora, were especially
pleased to find a store which specialized in T-Shirts. Not just any old
Souvenir T-shirt. You looked through pages of daffodil pictures, and racks of
plain T-shirts in probably twenty colors and all sizes, and in 20 seconds your
choice of picture was a permanent part of your chosen T shirt, for less than
$10.
Blue grass music was everywhere to be heard, and there was even a Civil War
Re-enactment on the river bank of the Ouachita River. The unique festival
event, to us, was the steak cook-off Friday night, a competitive event.
Fourteen teams of cooks competed for the best Black Angus steaks cooked. You
could buy a ticket (well ahead of time, we were told, and we got two of the
last five available at 11:00 am.), lined up at 5:00 pm. for the plate of
accompaniments, and then browsed among the cookout stations, choosing your own
steak. An empty store was turned into a dining room for tired and hungry
tourists (many of them we discovered escaping the cold of Minnesota and North
Dakota, and enjoying Camden thoroughly, though they didn’t know a jonquil from
a buttercup.)
Some of the spots on the garden tour were strictly drive-through, and some you
could explore. At Grace Hill Estate you were even invited to pick the flowers,
and many did. One drive-through destination was the Dawson Daffodil Farm,
planted with the daffodils of the late Arkansas horticulturist, Mrs. O.L.
Fellers.
Daffodils were everywhere. Mostly they were the old-timers so desirable in
informal gardens because they last so well. I bet I saw more blooms of ‘Ice
Follies’ in Ouachita County than anywhere west of the Netherlands bulb fields.
One inspiration I came home with was to plant the slope in front of our house
with clumps of the sturdy, long-lasting cultivars. I haven’t gotten my
husband’s permission for that obstacle-to-early mowing project yet; but I
think if had seen the sights we saw, he would be all-for it.
OUR FAVORITE and most important destination was the Daniel Gardens.
We’d been there once before, two years ago, and just knowing what to
anticipate made it better. Roxane and Dennis do things they care about doing
in a big way. Presently they are working especially hard at creating the look
of a Japanese garden. “All from reading books,” Dennis said, “We’ve never been
to Japan.” The Japanese aspect of their garden is a topic big enough for
another column.
But, oh, the daffodils! Many years ago, Roxane’s mother started giving her a
thousand daffodil bulbs every year for her December 26 birthday. And they have
continued to buy bulbs, mostly the old-timers, but also the better new
cultivars, and to rescue and plant old-timey favorites from deserted home
sites.
A trolley runs down the hill, around the trails, along the rows and rows of
daffodils, one cultivar to a row, on the flat land. They’ll stop to let you
walk awhile, or take pictures and catch the next trolley. Dennis taped a
recorded speech for this tour several years ago but he’ll stop the tape to add
his current comments when the spirit moves him.
The background to all of this garden is the trees, which are Dennis’ major
passion. To do the trolley tour with him is a special pleasure, because I can
tell you the botanical background of almost every tree on the place.
A bonus happening was the visit with Thera Lou Adams, one of a handful of
long-time daffodil grower in southern Arkansas One daffodil garden isn’t
enough for her. She has a huge garden near Alexandria, La. Planted on land
which was homesteaded by her husband’s parents in 1895. She holds an open
garden there every first weekend in March, and sometime we must manage to go
there. You could pair this with a visit to the Gibsland Daffodil Weekend
.
Thera Lou’s home daffodil fields are ‘just around the corner’ from the Daniel
Gardens, but right outside the city limits of Camden. From the front, the
house looks like almost any urban home. But walk to the back and you see
rolling hills and valleys, many trees, an enchanting old barn, thousands of
plants of all kinds, and the feeling of hiking in the woods. Our hiking was
hindered only slightly by Thera Lou’s sharpshooter shovel and by the quickly
heavier plastic bags of plants she wanted to share with us to our great
pleasure.
Some area daffodils are already blooming, but members of the Camden Daffodil Festival say early blooms are not a problem, blooming will continue and there will be plenty to welcome visitors and fill tour gardens when the festival opens March 11.
“It's going to be glorious,” said Roxane Daniel, longtime festival volunteer. Daniel Gardens, owned by Roxane Daniel and husband, Dennis Daniel, are a festival tour tradition.
“This cold snap is just what daffodils like,” she said Wednesday during a visit to the festival committee's weekly meeting.
Festival chairman Clara Freeland told the Camden News two new stops have been added to this year's garden tours, Grace Hill Estate on Old Wire Road and Timothy Methodist Church Park near the intersection of Old Wire Road and California Avenue.
Grace Hill Estate is owned by Frank and Joy Whetcha.
“Not only will you see a beautiful site, but the tourist will be able to pick a boutique of daffodils,” Freeland said about the Grace Hill Estate stop.
Also new this year is a stop at Timothy United Methodist Church. Freeland said church volunteers completed a major planting of daffodil bulbs last fall “just so they could be added to the festival.” Tour participants will be offered coffee, donuts, restroom facilities and a walk through the church park during the stop.
Tickets for the tour of gardens will be available during the festival at the ticket depot at the First united Methodist Church in downtown.
The festival will be open until 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 11 and until at least 9 p.m. Saturday, March 12.
“We wanted to give local residents a chance to enjoy the festival Friday night.” Freeland said. The extended hours on Saturday will allow Steak Cook-off participants to enjoy the live entertainment scheduled. Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductees The Pacers will be in concert at 4 p.m. Saturday, preceded and followed by local entertainers. The entertainment is free. Tickets for the steak cook-off are on sale at local banks and will be on sale at the festival's downtown information booth on Friday, March 11.
“We will sell steak cook-off tickets at the information booth, if we have any remaining.” said volunteer Beth Osteen.
Steak cook-off tickets must be purchased before Saturday March 12.
“When The Sun's A Shinin'”, a historical comedy about a civil war prisoner who journeys home to Camden at the end of the civil war, scheduled at Camden Fairview High School during the festival has been canceled. No reason for the cancellation was given during Wednesday's meeting.
The festival committee will meet again at noon on Wednesday at Allen's Restaurant on Washington Street.
For more information about the festival contact the chamber of commerce at 870-836-6426 or 870-836-0023.
