WYE -- The seven acres of blooms in the field next to Wye Mountain United Methodist Church are glorious enough that Vincent van Gogh might well have been inspired.
The tormented Dutch genius was fond of painting floral motifs, most notably sunflowers. In this bucolic setting 20 miles northwest of Little Rock, it's easy to imagine him reveling in the yellow blanket of daffodils. They'll star Saturday and Sunday as well as March 19-20 in the congregation's 38th annual Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival.
As of press time, organizers said the festival is still happening this weekend, even with the forecast of rainy weather.
This is about as down home as festivals get. There are no races, no games, no music, no guided tours. Admission is free.
There's even something worth buying for only $1 -- a dozen daffodils that you can pick from among the field's 20 or so varieties. A larger donation is welcome to help support the church, which has fewer than 40 members. But just a buck is required.
Also usually for sale are bulbs to plant for your own daffodils (aka jonquils). Barbecue, cobblers and soft drinks will be sold at a concession stand. Craft items, some locally made, are also a possibility. The daffodils look to be in fine form this season, barring any weekend bad weather.
Wye Mountain's festival started about 1980, some years after two members of the congregation had planted 65 bushels of daffodil bulbs in the field adjoining the stone church.
At the first festival, visitors were allowed to pick as many flowers as they wanted. The entire field got emptied in a single day, so some rules were needed. Now only part of the seven acres is roped off for picking, and bouquets are limited to one dozen daffodils per person.
Daffodil devotees can take in a second festival this weekend by driving 100 miles south from Little Rock to Camden. This event, set for its 23rd year on Friday and Saturday, is a full-blast affair that adds a steak cook-off, antique cars, Civil War re-enactors, cemetery walks and historic home tours to the mix.
Open for viewing will be six sizable daffodil gardens, a couple of which allow the picking of fresh flowers. A brochure pointing out the daffodil locations along with other information will be available at First Methodist Church Welcome Center, 121 Harrison Ave. N.W.
The church is one of two places, along with a booth at the corner of Washington and Adams, where festival tickets can be bought. You'll want to bring a credit card, not just a few dollar bills.
An all-inclusive ticket, good Friday and Saturday, costs $75. That includes garden tour, house tour, cemetery walk, lunch, steak dinner and shuttle transportation. Individual elements are available for $7 to $35.
Daffodils are also blossoming in a big way this month at Garvan Woodland Gardens, the University of Arkansas' rambling botanical site on the outskirts of Hot Springs.
They're heralded as part of Daffodil Days & Tulip Extravaganza, which continues through April 9. The gardens' Three Sisters of Amity Hill is a prime spot for daffodil viewing. Garvan is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, with adult admission of $15 ($5 for youngsters 6-12).
And in case you wondered, van Gogh did do daffodils at least once -- but not a rippling field of them. His Bowl With Daffodils, painted in 1886 in Paris, shows merely a dozen or so of the cut flowers. Wye Mountain would have wowed him.
Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival is casual enough that no website or phone number offers detailed information. To reach Wye Mountain from Little Rock, take Arkansas 10 (Cantrell Road) west and turn north on Arkansas 113 at the farther end of Lake Maumelle. The daffodil field and church are located just before the intersection with Arkansas 300.
For details on the Camden Daffodil Festival, call (870) 836-0023 or visit camdendaffodilfestival.com.
For information on Garvan Woodland Gardens, call (501) 262-9300 or visit garvangardens.org.
Weekend on 03/10/2016