March is the month of daffodils dancing across the county, turning gardens, riverbanks and grassy verges golden. It is also the month of Mothering Sunday when a walk through a landscape glowing gold with daffodils puts a spring in the steps of countless families – especially when teamed with a visit to a nearby tearoom.
Norfolk’s dazzling daffodil mile
A mile-long avenue of daffodils links Honing and Crostwight every spring, creating a golden link between the two villages near Stalham.
The delight of daffodils was originally left-over bulbs scattered along the verges by a farmer. Just two flowered the first spring, but over decades the daffodils have multiplied and the display is now so glorious that it is the centrepiece of an annual fundraising day for Honing and Crostwight churches.
Honing Daffodil Day is on Sunday March 17 when visitors are invited to stroll along the daffodil avenue or take a ride behind a vintage tractor to see the flowers. Home-baked refreshments and parking at Honing Village Hall, 11am-4pm.
Charity gold
Daffodils tumble down to the banks of the River Waveney in the gardens of the Old Coach House, The Street, Brockdish, near Diss.
The two acres of woodland and glorious display of spring flowers is open to the public on this year’s Daffodil Days - Sunday March 24 and Monday March 25, 10am-4pm.
Tickets are £4 (accompanied children free) with money going to local charities including the East Anglian Air Ambulance, prostate cancer charities, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, St Elizabeth Hospice, and PACT animal sanctuary. Dogs on leads are welcome and there will be refreshments and craft and charity stalls.
Ancient daffodil road
Moated Hindringham Hall, between Fakenham and Holt, has fishponds dating back to Norman times, when carp and eel were caught and taken by cart to the priories at Norwich and Binham.
An astonishing 46 varieties of daffodils now grow on Hindringham’s ancient roadway and will be on show from March 19 on Tuesdays (2-5pm) and Wednesdays (10am-1pm).
After admiring the gardens (entrance £10, children £2.50) enjoy refreshments, and pretty views, from the tea room of the moated Tudor hall.
Hindringham’s daffodils will also be on show when the gardens open in aid of the National Garden Scheme charities on Saturday March 2.
The surrounds of St Andrew’s Church, Kirby Bedon, are a sea of daffodils at this time of year.
Combine a visit to the fascinating old church (opposite the village’s other, ruined, church) with a walk along part of the Wherryman’s Way beside the river Yare. Potential refreshment stops including the Water’s Edge at Bramerton or the Ferry House or Tele’s Patisserie in Surlingham.
National Trust
Tens of thousands of daffodils light up the gardens and parkland at Blickling Hall near Aylsham, Felbrigg Hall near Cromer, and moated Oxburgh Hall near Swaffham. After enjoying the glorious spring gardens, relax in the National Trust tearooms – or try a fine local pub such as the Bucks Arms at the gates of Blickling or the Bedingfeld Arms in Oxborough village opposite the fascinating village church.
Fields of gold
Daffodils are a Norfolk farm crop. Entire fields shine yellow on farms including Rookery Farm, West Beckham, near Holt, where the flowers are an added joy for visitors to the holiday accommodation, and at flower farms on the Norfolk-Lincolnshire border.
Old Vicarage Gardens
Swathes, pots and planters of glorious daffodils are just a fraction of the springtime joy on display at the renowned East Ruston Old Vicarage Garden, near Happisburgh. The gardens and tearoom reopen for 2024 on March 1 and will be open in aid of the National Garden Scheme charities on Saturday March 16.
