The Million Daffodil Initiative in Belfast, Maine

Spring always arrives, with the green landscape slowly becoming smudged with dots of bright yellow. The daffodil reflects the spring sun, lifting our spirits and making us feel fuzzy and cozy inside.

Daffodils sprouting through the snow.Photo byDM Cleveland - Flickr

For most of us, the winter is depressing, dark and cold, a world of black and white. Seeing these yellow beauties gives us hope that winter is over and the good weather is on its way.

If you visit Belfast, ME, you will be welcomed by thousands of yellow flowers popping up everywhere; this is in large part due to the ‘Belfast Daffodil Project.’

Golden Daffodils, beside the lake, beneath the trees, flittering and dancing in the breeze. - William Wordsworth.

What is the Belfast Daffodil Project?

Local city dwellers and city planners run this wonderful community project. They have set a goal of planting one million bulbs in the small city of Belfast. Elisabeth Wolfe, a Belfast local, envisioned the idea and dream. The local reflexologist and an army of local gardeners and non-gardeners have come together to make the dream a reality.

The Belfast Daffodil Project has four aims:

1. Plant one Million of these daffodil plants in Belfast over the next 20 years.
2. Allow our unique community to join together with planting and enjoyment of daffodils.
3. Create a more beautiful, vibrant, and healthy landscape!
4. Make a BOLD SPRING statement of joyous life.

Their efforts of turning Belfast yellow: In the first year, they planted 50,000 bulbs! And in three years, they have managed to plant a total of 128,000. All the bulbs are paid for with donations.

Elisabeth Wolfe loves that the city has come together, worked as a community, and brought much-needed joy in these difficult times living through a pandemic.

“I’m finding myself laughing, actually, when I’ll be driving around, and I’ll see seven or eight pop up in the middle of nowhere,” Wolfe said. “Spring can sometimes be hard in Maine. It’s great to have these daffodils saying ‘Yes! Life is coming back.’”

Not only have the residents of Belfast been working down in the soil, but also the city has helped a great deal in the planting effort. Flowers are being planted in parks and public areas. Even while driving along, you will notice the roads are lined with yellow flowers.

It’s good for the soul to plant, and it’s good for the community to be involved; children, parents, and the elderly, people of all ages, are helping and benefiting.

The future of “Yellow town”

With many more years of planting ahead, the city looks to gather those little bulbs in huge quantities. Come this fall; people will be busy roaming the town and countryside looking for places that need color. And with the daffodil being a perennial, these remarkable springtime flowers will keep returning every year to brighten up the City of Belfast.

Belfast, Maine

“Maine, the Way Life Should Be!”

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About the author

Stephen Dalton is a native of Old Town, ME, and a retired US Army First Sergeant with a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland. He is a Certified US English Chicago Manual of Style Editor. Top Writer in Travel, Food, Fiction, Transportation, VR, NFL, Design, Creativity, Short Story, and a NewsBreak Community Voice Pro.