Early daffodils have Central Saanich farmer wishing for a cold snap
Flower pickers needed in a hurry at Longview Farms
As residents in parts of British Columbia dig out from recent heavy snowfalls and think fondly of spring, Ryan Vantreight is cursing Vancouver Island’s mild weather and wishing for a cold snap.
Vantreight is general manager of Longview Farms, Canada’s largest daffodil farm, at 8277 Central Saanich Rd.
Spring-like conditions have coaxed out some early blooms, and Vantreight said he’s scrambling to hire about 20 workers to cut the still-budding flowers before they burst into their full golden glory.
“If you see yellow in the field, I’m seeing red,” Vantreight said of the early season.
“Cold is good for us right now because it will slow things down,” he said. “What it does do is give us a little bit more even growth and gives us a little bit more chance to get them before they pop.”
“Once they bloom, they are gone. We can’t sell them,” Vantreight said, adding customers want tight heads and tight bunches so the daffodils open in arrangements at home.
“It’s always a race beyond time to try to get the flowers before they bloom and before they become unsellable.”
The farm has more than 28 hectares of land devoted to growing and exporting at least three million daffodils, Vantreight said.
While he’s looking for 20 pickers immediately, more than 150 will be needed by the height of the season, he said.
The farm sends its blooms across North America, and markets include the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days campaign, held in March.