WYE -- This unusually mild Arkansas winter has flora of all sorts bursting out early. That includes the daffodils that herald the advent of spring -- at Wye Mountain and around the state.
The prolific, mainly yellow blossoms emerged in abundance as February progressed. So the Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival, 20 miles northwest of Little Rock, is happening a week earlier than last year. Sponsored by Wye Mountain United Methodist Church, the 39th annual event is set for Saturday and Sunday as well as March 11-12.
There's nothing very fancy -- or commercial -- about Wye's festival, which began after two church members had planted 65 bushels of bulbs in the 1970s. The small rural congregation charges no admission to its seven-acre field featuring 30 varieties of daffodils (members of the narcissus family and sometimes called jonquils). Donations, however, are welcome.
Wye's daffodils should still be "pretty much near their peak" this Saturday and Sunday, according to the church's lay leader, David U. Harmon. "And there'll be a lot to see even on the following weekend if daytime temperatures stay below 75 degrees."
One perk of showing up on March 11-12 is that visitors will be able to buy a dozen freshly picked daffodils for $1 (or a larger donation). No bouquets will be available for purchase this weekend, says Harmon, "because then there wouldn't be enough flowers left for later viewing."
For sale both weekends will be daffodil bulbs ready for planting at $5 per dozen. Available in exchange for a donation will be dried bulbs dug up last year during transplanting of the field.
To help raise funds for the congregation, concessions will include barbecue, hamburgers, hot dogs, brownies, popcorn and soft drinks. Arkansas-made arts and crafts will be available as well.
There'll be more sizzle to the floral fun scheduled for March 10-11 some 100 miles south of Little Rock. It's the 24th annual Camden Daffodil Festival, which will dish up red meat in the form of a steak cook-off.
Camden's festival is as thoroughly organized as Wye Mountain's is breezily casual -- and a great deal pricier. The deluxe wristband ticket, priced at $75, includes a garden tour, a house tour, a cemetery walk, a "Dining in the Daffodils" lunch, a steak dinner and shuttle transportation.
Tickets for single events are also available. The March 11 beef dinner, costing $22, will be served from 5 to 6:15 p.m. as the steak cook-off wraps up on the parking lot of First Baptist Church. Tickets for lighter appetizer fare, priced at $10, will be on sale until 3 p.m.
Information on the Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival is available on facebook.com/DaffodilsOnWyeMountain. To reach the location from Little Rock, take Arkansas 10 (Cantrell Road) west and turn north on Arkansas 113 at the farther end of Lake Maumelle. The daffodil field and church are located just before the intersection with Arkansas 300. Visit camdendaffodilfestival.com.
Weekend on 03/02/2017