Ready to say goodbye to rain and hello to spring? Okatie daffodil farm opens this weekend
Here’s some good news that we hope signals the end of a long stretch of rain in the Lowcountry: U-Pick Daffodils is abloom with the first flowers of the season and is ready to open for guests starting Saturday.
There might be a little bit more mud than usual, so choose your footwear accordingly.
The fields at 48 Calhoun Plantation Road in Okatie, just off Pinckney Colony Road, were vibrant against this week’s gray skies, not unlike the yellow brick road in “The Wizard of Oz.”
The early blooming “Tamera” variety has bright yellow petals, and rows of them are ready to pick now. Other varieties will pop up over the next month or so.
Chuck and Diane Merrick, the family farm’s co-owners, open and close the fields depending on the weather and the number of blooms available, so watch the farm’s Facebook page or website at upickdaffodils.com for the most up-to-date hours.
They expect to be open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but closing early is a possibility if the blooms are picked earlier.
The weather forecast says Beaufort County will be sunny and cool this weekend, with temperatures in the mid-50s, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston. A chance of rain returns on Monday, but it is expected to be sunny and warmer through the rest of the coming week.
A local tradition
Daffodils don’t grow easily in the Lowcountry climate, Chuck Merrick said.
“Every year, we lose about half the ones we planted the previous year,” he explained.
Visiting the farm has become a spring rite for families, flower-lovers and photographers alike, and the Merrick family takes pride in continuing that tradition that started more than 50 years ago.
This year, the family planted 36,000 new bulbs using a daffodil-planting machine purchased from Holland and pulled behind a tractor. The bulbs will be blooming throughout the season, which generally ends in March but varies depending on the weather.
Something else that’s new this year: a focus on safety due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hand sanitizer and a hand-washing station will be available.
Instead of coming to one station to have their stems counted and wrapped up, customers will be able to spread out across multiple tables and will be given the supplies to wrap their own flowers before paying.
Each stem is 35 cents, and both cash and card payments will be accepted.
This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 4:00 PM.
