Gardeners across the UK are being asked to help restore a rare pink daffodil to cultivation as the Royal Horticultural Society launches its second annual Daffodil Diaries campaign today. The initiative invites the nation’s 34 million gardeners to log sightings of daffodils in private gardens and public spaces. In 2025, the project gathered nearly 3,000 submissions, ranging from the Scilly Isles to the Outer Hebrides.
Analysis of last year’s data revealed that yellow daffodils dominate the setting. The all-yellow trumpet accounted for 42 per cent of submissions, followed by all-yellow double flowers at 8 per cent and yellow and white cups at 5 per cent. Just 6 per cent of the daffodils reported to the RHS contained pink.
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The campaign is now focusing its efforts on three specific varieties that conservation charity Plant Heritage is helping to track: the original pink trumpeted daffodil ‘Mrs R.O Backhouse’, the white double flowered ‘Mrs William Copeland’, and the orange and yellow double ‘Sussex Bonfire’. Over 1,000 sightings of these specific plants were submitted last year.
RHS principal plant scientist Dr Kálmán Könyves noted that yellow daffodils are far more popular than their pink counterparts, which are less adaptable and less common in gardens. “Yellow daffodils are far and away the most popular, not unsurprising for their welcome burst of colour, but it is interesting to note that the more adaptable pinks have proven less popular than we might have assumed,” he said.
Preserving the varieties
Owners of plants suspected to be one of the three rare varieties will be invited to dig them up after flowering in 2026. The plants will be grown on at the RHS’s John MacLeod Field Research Facility at Wisley. A panel of experts will assess the flowers in spring 2027. If confirmed as the rare varieties, the flowers can be donated to daffodil breeder Scamps Daffodils with the owner’s permission.
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RHS chief horticulturist Guy Barter explained that distinguishing between the 30,000 varieties of daffodil available in the UK requires an experienced eye. He emphasized that maintaining this diversity is fundamental to their benefit for people and planet. “Rare daffodils were spotted across the country and raising them in one location next year will enable us to confirm some of them as the rare varieties we have been searching for and, potentially, find others thought to be in decline,” Barter said.
While the specific mechanics of the trial have been established, the long-term success of the project relies heavily on the accuracy of public identification. Even with expert oversight, there is a possibility that some of the plants submitted for the 2026 trial may not be the specific rare varieties being sought, meaning the search for the true ‘Mrs R.O Backhouse’ could extend beyond the initial assessment window. Gardeners interested in participating can visit rhs.org.uk to submit sightings or map their own daffodils before the deadline of 30 June 2026.
