Went to the daffodil field again

In her entry for the 20th of March, Edith says:

Went to the Daffodil field again; The buds are just breaking into yellow. Found two Thrush's nests both in holly bushes, one nest was empty, the bird was sitting on the other, she looked at me with such brave, bright eyes, I could not disturb her, much as I would liked a peep at her speckled blue eggs.

Rabbits in the NEC's daffodils.

When I was in Birmingham, from the 8th to the 10th of March, there were certainly plenty of daffodils in full bloom. While walking through the NEC grounds one night, a colleague spotted some rabbits amongst the bright yellow blooms.

I find myself wondering what sort of daffodil field she meant. Maybe it belonged to a commercial grower. The first show for the Midland Daffodil Society (now the Daffodil Society) was held in the Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston, Birmingham 1899. The programme, available from the Northern Group's website tells us that a number of commercial growers from the area were exhibiting:

• Simpson and Son, Birmingham
• Hewitt and Co, Solihull
• John Pope, Birmingham
• Robert Sydenham, Birmingham

In her diary, Edith mentions visits to Packwood in February and July. Ragged Robin's splendid blog describes both Edith's and her own visits. Ragged Robin's post shows Packwood's lovely, naturalised daffodils. However, if Edith Packwood, I'm sure she would have mentioned it.  

Wild daffodils and other spring flowers from my Sussex garden.

I think that it's most likely that Edith's daffodil field contained the wild species. She certainly painted some on a nearby page. The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust runs the Harvest Hill Nature Reserve, which "is one of the last remaining wild daffodil meadows in the area." That tantalising "remaining" suggests there would have been more in Edith's time. 

Daffodils under an illuminated tree, Birmingham NEC.

I'm sure Edith never saw daffodils and trees lit up like this! The lights run through a cycle of red, blue, green and magenta. I find them strangely compelling to watch although I suspect any nesting birds will go elsewhere.

Resort World - there are bird boxes in the dark area to the right.

However there are bird boxes nearby, close to the Resort World hotel and, last year, I saw young Great Crested Grebes so even though I didn't see any nesting birds, they are sure to be around somewhere.