A rare find, literally stumbled upon, will be one of the highlights of Hever Castle’s Dazzling Daffodils.

Alongside the 14,000 new daffodils across the gardens, visitors to the second annual event of its kind will be able to see rare “double daffodils” which were discovered by the castle’s chief executive, Duncan Leslie.

He was out walking his dogs in the private Park Wood when he made the discovery.

“I came upon a clump of unusual daffodils while out in Park Wood,” he said.

“When I looked closely at the flowers they looked quite unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The “double” part was restricted to inside the main trumpet of the flower. It’s quite extraordinary to think they may have been here for many years - possibly hundreds. These delicate yellow flowers really are a fantastic find for us at Hever.”

The gardening team at the castle consulted bulb specialist Johnny Walkers, who identified them as Narcissi Telamonius Plenus, a daffodil that can lie in the earth without flowering until it is disturbed or until light is thrown on them by the clearing of trees.

Thanks to the blooms find, which date back to 1620, the normally private Park Wood will be open to visitors as part of Dazzling Daffodils to discover the rare beauties for themselves.

On offer will also be tours of Hever’s daffodils, including Anne Boleyn’s orchard.

The bulbs in the orchard are among the oldest on the estate. The site itself was clearly marked on a map dating from 1785.

Other daffodils of note there include the Rip van Winkle, which is thought to date from before 1884.

GARDEN TOURS

Visitors to the Hever Castle’s Dazzling Daffodils events will be given a tour of the grounds, including the orchard, by bulb expert Johnny Walkers, who is returning, and Hever’s head gardener Neil Miller.

Master grower Johnny Walkers of Walkers’ Bulbs was awarded his 25th consecutive gold medal at RHS Chelsea last year.

Johnny said: “I was most impressed with everything that I saw there last year and I’m looking forward to giving tours with Neil. We formed quite a double act last year and it was a real joy to meet so many people passionate about daffodils.”

Neil added: “Dazzling Daffodils was a real highlight for us last year and we are looking forward to showing the public the unseen woodland areas containing daffodils from this 500-year-old variety.”

DETAILS

Dazzling Daffodils will be at Hever Castle from Wednesday, March 20 to Sunday, March 24. There will also be a children’s daffodil themed craft workshop for little ones to take part in.

For tour and activity times visit hevercastle.co.uk or call 01732 865224.