Marshall Field III’s first wife Evelyn’s favorite flowers were daffodils. In a planning meeting for the estate in 1927, Marshall Field told head gardener George Gillies to buy “a plentitude of daffodils” as Evelyn was very fond of them. When asked how much he should spend, Gillies was told that he could spend the same amount as the price of one of Mr. Field’s prized polo ponies. Seven months later, the Long Island Rail Road transported 17 freight car-loads of bulbs imported from Holland. As we know today, these daffodils are located all over the Park. Gillies planted them almost 100 years ago; everywhere he thought Evelyn Field might visit.

Over the past century, many these same daffodils still bloom. This fall, in homage to Evelyn Field, the Foundation has planted 100,000 assorted daffodil bulbs to have their first bloom in time for the State Park system’s centennial celebration taking place this spring. All of the new bulbs were planted in a single day using a tractor-drawn bulb planter imported from The Netherlands and borrowed from Cornell University. This incredible machine plows open the grass sod, drops in the bulbs and then neatly closes the sliced turf. After the procedure, the planted areas seem miraculously undisturbed.  

This planting method will have the new stems appear through the turf before the grass begins to grow in spring. “This machine greatly reduces the labor required to establish naturalized bulb plantings,” says Bill Miller, a professor in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science and director of Cornell University’s Flower Bulb Research Program, who drove the machine to Long Island from Ithaca, New York.  Bill, along with Richard Weir, a retired horticultural and environmental educator also from Cornell University, supervised the planting.  “Some people might be concerned about the lack of precise placement of the bulbs,” notes Miller, “but actually, most bulbs are forgiving about how deep they are planted, despite what you might see on the planting instructions. They also do fine if not planted right side up.” In the Walled Garden, volunteers from the Nathan Hale Garden Club hand planted over 2,000 bulbs in areas the machine couldn’t reach.

Funding for this mass planting has come from a generous anonymous donor, and the overall project will include the addition of handsome and informative trail markers to be located throughout the Park. The new trail markers will help visitors navigate Caumsett’s 1500 acres and effectively communicate directional and regulatory information along the many trails. We are now able to offer you the opportunity to add your name to a handsome trail marker post.