Our last stop before leaving Pope County last weekend was some private property tucked into the edge of the Shawnee National Forest.  For several years now, the owner, a master gardener, has used that as a getaway from city life and as his playground for flower gardening.  It’s beautiful, peaceful and very private.  He calls it the Howdy Farm, and in the spring, it comes alive with thousands of daffodils.  He estimates he has about 40,000 daffodil and narcissus bulbs in the ground, and they spring forth in various shades of yellow, white and gold this time of year, trumpeting spring’s arrival in waves of cheery color.  When you add in the trickle of the running water from the nearby creek and the sound of the occasional owl and woodpecker, it’s a feast for the senses. 

There are so many blooms you cannot capture them in one wide image.   You really have to see the farm for yourself to fully appreciate it.  I’ve been lucky enough to be invited there on several occasions to take pictures, and I just love it.  I love daffodils as much as I love sunflowers, and I could spend hours and hours among those blooms, taking in their beauty and celebrating the departure of winter.  These images are just a fraction of the ones I shot this past weekend.  Imagine that.