A couple with connections to Mansfield City Schools is searching for daffodil bulbs – thousands of them – to plant this fall as part of Mansfield in Bloom. Dalton Derr, a retired Mansfield Senior High music teacher, and his wife, Janeen Hire-Derr, an audiologist in the district, are among several people working toward “Daffodil Days” in the city next spring.
“This will be a profusion of color in Central Park downtown and spreading to other areas,” said Derr. “Any bulbs donated by Mansfield City Schools teachers and staff, parents and students will be among 5,000 that we will plant this fall at South Park along with redbud trees.”
Anyone willing to donate daffodil bulbs may dig them up and take them to the Chamber of Commerce downtown, or Derr and some friends will dig up donors’ bulbs and store them. Donors may call Janeen Hire-Derr at 419-543-1811.
“We will need to know by late summer how many bulbs we have,” Derr said. “We also will have a grant to purchase new bulbs as needed.”
In his “In the Garden” column in the News Journal in April, Richard Poffenbaugh described how daffodils are survivors.
“A major trait of a daffodil is a long life,” he wrote. “If you plant 24 bulbs this fall in the right site, in three to four years they should multiply to 24 more bulbs. This is also double the color attraction.
“The major danger to a daffodil bulb is water, like wet soil. This is common among most bulbs. A bulb in wet soil will rot the first growing season.
“Otherwise, a daffodil bulb will survive during your lifetime and beyond. We have daffodils that have been blooming since 1960, an amazing 58 years!”