Place your bets - when will the first scented narcissi arrive?

We're quite experienced at estimating when the first scented narcissi of the season will be ready. The first stems would normally be picked in sheltered, sunny fields on St Mary's by mid to late September but the quality of some of the very first flowers often isn't that high.

We wait until mid-October before we're happy with the quality of the crop and are ready to start posting gift boxes of scented narcissi from Churchtown Farm. However, after the exceptionally dry and hot summer, we're really not sure what effect the weather will have on the start of this year's narcissi crop. 

Will the high temperatures and extra hours of sunlight advance the flowers or will the lack of any moisture retard them?

Jon, our farm manager, thinks everything will balance out and we should see narcissi at the farm by 17/10. Whereas Ben, managing partner with too many years of experience, thinks it will be more like 27/10. What do you think? 

Just for a bit of fun have a go at guessing when the first scented narcissi will be seen in our farm packing shed and you could win a box of some of the first scented narcissi of the season.