Grand Soleil d'Or

This beautiful Soleil d'Or started coming out a week ago and I have been waiting until all the flowers were blooming. I could smell the wonderful  perfume as I was taking the shot. Because of my asthma I can't have them inside the house.

My father use to growing the Soleil d'Or for the flower market and was always the first person to get the flowers in the market for Mothers Day and was rewarded with a good price. My job when I was younger was to pick them and then we would bunch them up and my father would taken them into the market. His secret to get them to flower so early, he told me, was to water them well from the end of January. 

I use to have a lot of Soleil d'Or in my garden then the Narcissus Bulb Fly destroyed them all along with some of my fathers show winning daffodils. In February this year my cousin gave me some of her Soleil d'Ors that my dad had given her many years ago and was so surprised to seem to flowering so early.

Most of the day was very gloomy with no wind, then late in the afternoon the sun showed its face for a while. We have been so lucky to have had such a good Autumn so far but I think our luck is running out now.

Wellington has been hit with really bad weather today and it has caused chaos with wide spread flooding. Do hope the rain stops soon for them soon!