Aira Force Daffodil Project
FOUW provided funding support for a National Trust project to restore native daffodils at Aira Force and Gowbarrow Park.
The project replaces non-native daffodils with native wild daffodils — the smaller, more delicate flowers associated with the Ullswater landscape and the daffodils that inspired William Wordsworth’s poem I wandered lonely as a cloud.
Why daffodils matter here
Daffodils are part of Ullswater’s cultural landscape. The native wild daffodils growing near Ullswater helped inspire one of Wordsworth’s best-known poems, making them closely connected with the valley’s literary history.
Native wild daffodils are smaller and more delicate than many garden varieties. They once thrived in the valley, but their numbers have declined in some places because of hybridisation with non-native daffodils, trampling and damage to the ground where they grow.
This project helps support the future of a culturally important plant at one of Ullswater’s best-known places
What the project does
Each year, the National Trust removes non-native daffodils in May and June and replants with native daffodils in September.
A similar number of bulbs are replanted, helping the native daffodils become established over time. The non-native daffodils are not wasted: they are used in pots and containers around Aira Force, Gowbarrow Park and the local community.
What visitors may notice
When an area has been dug up, it can look messy while the soil and grasses recover. This usually settles as the ground regrows.
Newly planted native daffodils may also look less dramatic for the first few springs. They take time to establish and multiply. In the longer term, the hope is that the native daffodils will create a spring display that is just as striking, while helping restore a plant that belongs to Ullswater’s natural and cultural story.
Information board at Aira Force explaining the native daffodil replanting project and why some areas may look disturbed while the bulbs establish.
Daffodils, art and Wordsworth
The native daffodils around Ullswater are part of a much wider cultural story. William and Dorothy Wordsworth knew the valley well, and the daffodils they saw near Ullswater helped inspire one of William Wordsworth’s best-known poems.
They have also inspired artists, including Alfred Heaton Cooper, whose painting Wild Daffodils Ullswater is included in the Virtual Art Gallery.
Visit Aira Force
Aira Force is one of Ullswater’s best-known visitor places, with woodland paths, views, waterfalls and access to the lakeshore.
