Neil Miller, head gardener at Hever Castle & Gardens, has been busy in Anne Boleyn’s Orchard this week as he led the team in their drive to plant thousands of daffodil bulbs ahead of Dazzling Daffodils; Hever’s first ever daffodil festival next March.

Winston Churchill, Thalia and Jack Snipe were among the names being planted on site, along with High Society, Malvern City and Bridal Crown.

Visitors to Hever Castle & Gardens’ new event Dazzling Daffodils in March will be able to enjoy the spectacle of 14,000 daffodils blooming in the grounds at Anne Boleyn’s childhood home in Kent.

The bulbs will bloom in Anne Boleyn’s Orchard, on rhododendron Walk, in special displays around the courtyard and beside the outer moat.

Master grower Johnny Walkers of Walkers’ Bulbs, and winner of 35 RHS gold medals, has been on hand to help select the bulbs for Anne Boleyn’s Orchard and will be onsite in March giving talks at the Castle and tours of the garden alongside head gardener Neil Miller.

Neil Miller said: “We are so looking forward to leading visitors through Anne Boleyn’s Orchard, an area usually closed to the general public, to get a closer look at the daffodils there. We have planted thousands of Walkers bulbs to augment our already established display so it should look fantastic in March 2018!”

Johnny Walkers’ top daffodils for 2018:

Malvern City                     all yellow
Sealing Wax                      yellow-red
Rauol Wallenberg           white-yellow
High Society                     white-pink
Birma                                 yellow-red
Worcester                          all white
Gossamer                          white-lemon-pink rim
Blarney                              white-apricot
Beauvallon                        yellow-red double
Tahiti                                 yellow-red double
Thalia                                all white multi-head
Brackenhurst                   yellow-red
Fly Half                             yellow-red
Golden Joy                       all yellow

Short or scented varieties best suited for pot work:

February Gold                 all yellow
Tete-a-Tete                      all yellow
Jack Snipe                       white-yellow
Jetfire                               yellow-red
Katie Heath                     white-pink
Avalanche                        white-yellow scented
Bridal Crown                   multi-head scented
Falconet                            multi-head scented
Sir Winston Churchill    multi-head scented

Dazzling Daffodils will run from Wednesday 21 March – Sunday 25 March 2018.