Daffodils ‘popping up like crazy’ at Okatie farm. Here’s when you can pick some
The calendar says it’s January, but the weather is telling a different story at the U-Pick Daffodil farm in Okatie.
“The daffodils are popping up like crazy with this week’s warmer weather,” reads a post on the farm’s website. The farm is located at 48 Calhoun Plantation Road in Okatie.
Customers are invited to visit Thursday, Jan. 16, and Friday, Jan. 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday hours are possible depending on the weather and status of the blooms.
Chuck and Diane Merrick, the family farm’s co-owners, evaluate their fields and watch for rain when deciding whether or not to open. Visitors should check www.upickdaffodils.com or the farm’s Facebook page before planning a trip because hours and days open may vary.
The couple also will post if they are having to close early because the flowers that had been available that day are sold out.
“We try to be open Saturdays, but it doesn’t always work out because of the rain,” Chuck Merrick said. “We have to work around the weather, and we have to work around the flowers blooming.”
The weather at the end of this week generally will be sunny, with the first significant chance of showers in the forecast not coming until Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston. After a high of 80 on Thursday, temperatures are expected to dip into the 50s and 60s next week.
Chuck Merrick said a little bit of cold shouldn’t hurt the blooms.
“It will help them really,” he said. “We’ve never really had an issue with the cold.”
Picking brilliant yellow flowers at the farm — and posting photos of the fields on social media — are annual rites for many in the Beaufort County area. The farm is open to the public only for a brief time each year.
The family planted 48,000 daffodil bulbs in an assortment of varieties for the 2020 season, Chuck Merrick said. The variety means plants will be blooming throughout the season, which generally ends in early to mid-March.
Among the new varieties that are not yet blooming are the “Red Devon,” which has an orange center, while others, like “Jonquilla,” are smaller and known for their sweet fragrance.
Each flower picked costs 30 cents this year. That’s a small increase over last year’s price to help cover the farm’s increased costs for bulbs, shipping and fuel.
“Everything keeps going up and up,” Chuck Merrick said.
The farm accepts cash and checks only.
