All orange, pink on yellow, pink on white - the range of daffodils at Wanganui's Spring Flower Show surprised those who came to wonder at them on Saturday.
"Daffs today aren't just straight-out yellow. The general public was gobsmacked. They've never seen daffodils like it," Wanganui Horticultural Society vice-president Wayne Hughes said.
He has been growing and breeding daffodils for 25 years. He said people like him enjoyed the chance to show off what they grew - because the big national shows he enters are much more serious and competitive.
The Whanganui show had pot plants, shrubs, garden produce and a variety of flowers - but daffodils were the main focus. There were 18 growers with daffs to show - from Waikanae, Ohau, Levin, Palmerston North, Foxton, Marton, Whanganui, Hawera, Normanby, Eltham, New Plymouth, Hamilton, Morrinsville and Te Awamutu.
With 555 blooms it was one of the biggest shows for a while, and Mr Hughes said the amateur classes were brilliantly supported. It helped that flowering was later than usual this year, with early daffodils still available for showing in what is usually mid-season.
