Bad weather means late daffodils

Rotorua Daffodil Day co-ordinator Tracey Crompton. Fresh daffodils won't be ready in time for Daffodil Day on Friday. Photo / Stephen Parker

It's Daffodil Day on Friday, but thanks to frosts and Mother Nature the day will be missing a crucial element - the daffodils.

Bad weather has delayed this year's daffodil production and despite the best attempts to find more, it means Rotorua businesses that pre-ordered daffodils as part of the Cancer Society fundraiser won't get them in time for the day.

Cancer Society spokeswoman Maria Low said the 768 bunches pre-sold to Rotorua businesses would arrive, just not until next Tuesday.

"We have a bit of a supply crisis this year. Obviously the growers can only pick a certain number."

She said the Cancer Society had been co-ordinating the annual Daffodil Day campaigns including pre-sales for many years and every year pretty much ran like a well-oiled machine, "but unfortunately we still haven't managed to control the weather".

Ms Low said Fastway Couriers, which was delivering all the pre-sold bunches, had managed to juggle its schedule to deliver all the fresh daffodils on September 1. "Even though the timing of deliveries isn't going to be ideal, their purchase of fresh daffodils still goes towards helping people with cancer and we're very grateful."

Meanwhile the Daffodil Day street appeal will go ahead on Friday and Saturday with more than 170 volunteers helping out.

The day is one of the Cancer Society's most important fundraising and awareness campaigns with money raised in the region staying in the region.