Fife home to scotland’s first daffodil festival

Scotland’s first ever daffodil festival is to be held in Fife.

Over the Easter weekend the Rossie Estate, near Collessie is hosting the event.

Celebrity daffodil expert George Anderson, from The Beechgrove Garden, will cut the ribbon to open the event on April 15 and 16.

Outdoor activities for families include the fun bring and show where visitors can bring three daffodils of the same variety from their garden to show.

There will also be a woodland daffodil trail and egg hunt as well as local stallholders and plant sales.

The festival has been organised by the Backhouse family whose daffodil collection dates back to the 1800s.

Caroline Thomson is a direct Backhouse descendent and is attempting to restore the Backhouse collection of heritage bulbs.

She and her family are immersed in a race around the country to find these rare species and bring them back to Fife before they disappear.

Caroline said: “To date we have been very lucky that this exciting project has attracted knowledgeable daffodil experts.

“Hopefully the Backhouse daffodils collected to date will be enjoyed by lots of visitors to the garden and their grace and beauty enthuse future generations with a love of daffodils.”

James Backhouse, a wealthy 18th Century businessman founded the Backhouse Bank in 1774 with his sons Jonathan and James.

The new financial security offered by the bank allowed the Backhouses the opportunity to become dynamic botanists who changed daffodil breeding in this country for ever.

Caroline (pictured) is a direct descendant and sixth generation of the Backhouse horticulturalists.