STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Marty Lyon has learned what it’s like to be a farmer as he prepares for the inaugural Wood River Valley Daffodil Festival at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden.
He’s been watching the skies and poring over weather forecasts as he tries to figure out how more than 30,000 daffodils that volunteers planted last fall will react to a colder-than-normal spring with snow kicking off the first few days of May.
“Already we have quite a few daffodils in bloom. Just a few warm days and it will look real nice,” said Lyon, who founded the festival as a collaboration between the Sawtooth Botanical Garden and the Senior Connection.
“There’ll be years where it’s warmer. And the experience of going to the public garden and seeing tens of thousands of daffodils will only be enhanced year after year because the daffodils will double,” he added. “It’s an ongoing gift to the community for many years to come—beauty offered at a time of year people don’t think about going to the botanical garden.”
The inaugural Wood River Valley Daffodil Festival will kick off from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden.
There will be games for children and flower tours for adults. The Caritas Chorale will perform at 12:30 p.m., and members of the Wood River Orchestra, the Ukesters ukulele group and Rick Hoel will also provide music through the event. There’ll be lemonade and cookies, and KB’s Food Truck and Warfield Distillery will have food and beverages available for purchase.
At 11:30 a.m., several speakers will dedicate the Daffodil COVID Memorial Garden, which boasts 4,500 mixed color daffodils.
“We’re using this Daffodil Festival as a way to acknowledge the impact that COVID had on our community and the impact it had on those who lost loved ones,” said Lyon.
The garden will also be open on Mother’s Day with SBG staff offering tours and answering questions.
The Sawtooth Botanical Garden and Senior Connection will split proceeds from the Festival, using them to continue their work of showcasing the beauty and diversity of the garden and prolonging quality life for seniors.
The Sawtooth Botanical Garden and Senior Connection will offer sponsorship opportunities to purchase additional bulbs for Phase 2 of the Daffodil Festival this summer. The bulbs will be planted next fall.
Next year organizers hope to expand the festival to include viewing parties and another celebratory event.
“This project will last for decades,” said Lyon. “We intend to help it grow each year to become an event that will boost our local economy.”
The inaugural event was made possible and generously sponsored by several organizations and individuals, including AARP, Hanna Bigelow, City of Hailey, Clearwater Landscaping, LYON Landscape Architects, Edward Jones, Insurance Specialist Group, Marty and Mila Lyon, Shelley Seibel & Alex Margolin, Kathy Lynn, Windermere Real Estate, Verdi Wealth Management, HearingLife, WEBB, Winn’s Compost, The Johnson Company, Dede and Steven Huish, Mardi Shepard, Shuford Financial Partners, Scott Miley Roofing and Sun Valley Garden Center.
Questions? Call 208-788-3468.