Wild daffodil in the Noordbargeres water catchment area

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The wild daffodil is also called the Drentse paosbloem. This once so characteristic flower for the landscape of Drenthe has become rare. But various initiatives are trying to save the bulbous plant from destruction and the plant is making a cautious comeback.

In the Noordbargeres water catchment area near Emmen, a large number of wild daffodils are located in a rather awkward place. Peter Bartels of the water company WMD shows the production site where new construction is taking place.

Before construction started, the yellow flowers suddenly appeared. “That wild daffodil was still in the ground here,” Bartelds said. “We were instructed to rescue them and have drawn up a rescue plan. In consultation with Landscape Management Drenthe, we moved the plants. It is a great pleasure to have saved them. Say yourself, it is a very beautiful, fresh plant.” The move was successful and a little further on you see the yellow of the wild daffodils.

Only the wild daffodil occurs naturally in our country. The ‘common’ or trumpet daffodil is cultivated and is very similar to the wild daffodil, but there are also differ† “A nice feature are the lighter petals and the calyx is much darker in color”, Bartelds shows. Furthermore, wild daffodils are somewhat smaller than most garden daffodils and flower earlier. The flower of the wild daffodil does not or hardly protrude above the leaves and the leaves have a striking blue-green color.
Landscape Management Drenthe has been working with the province since 2019 to protect the wild daffodil. In the project Drenthe Easter flower the bulbous crop is brought to the attention of property owners in the hope of preserving existing growing areas and encouraging owners and site managers to reintroduce the species in yards and in meadows and stream valleys. Together with volunteers, bulb banks are set up where wild daffodils are temporarily housed and propagated.

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