The daffodils (Narcissus to my Latin-speaking friends) have well and truly popped up, putting on a much-welcomed spring display of dazzling power. I’ll be honest, I don’t recall them being quite this enthusiastic last year. Mind you, the border is absolutely teeming with tufts of them.

Plus in my defence, this time last year, my life was a delightful chaos of moving boxes and wondering which way was up. So perhaps my daffodil-detecting radar wasn’t fully operational.

Their rather grand appearance this year got me thinking: what exactly am I looking at? For a fleeting, exciting moment, I wondered if I’d stumbled upon one of those rare varieties the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has been searching for. You might have seen it – they launched the ‘Daffodil Diaries’ project, urging everyone to be on the lookout.

My inner plant detective was ON THE CASE.

Alas, my showy white specimens, which I tentatively wondered might be Narcissus ‘Mrs William Copeland’, seem to be missing that characteristic yellow centre. So, the investigation continues. Perhaps they’re more of a Narcissus ‘White Medal’? Honestly, I’m not placing any bets. A little digging (okay, a lot) revealed there are something in the region of 31,000 registered daffodil varieties.

They are grouped into 13 different divisions based on flower form, the shape and size of the corona (aka.the trumpet bit), oh, and how many flowers grace a single stem. And then there are the colours too! We’re talking white, yellow, pink, orange, red, and green – and they can double up, no less. So, Y-Y means an all-yellow number, while W-O describes a sophisticated white petal with a cheeky orange cup.

By this point, I’d well and truly tumbled down a daffodil-shaped rabbit hole.

My horticultural deep-dive made me realise two things: firstly, I’m still very much in the guessing game with my inherited floral treasures because I can’t make my mind up. And secondly, and perhaps more dangerously, my ‘looking around’ online had seamlessly morphed into ‘shopping around’. I mean, have you seen the centres of Narcissus ‘Pink Champagne’?! Paired with my mysterious white garden visitors, they’d make a rather striking power couple (if you was wondering, that’s the sound of the ‘add to cart’ button clicking).

I felt the urge to create a visual daffodil spotting guide detailing my adventure. However, that ever-elusive extra day between Wednesday and Thursday never materialised. Instead, I was busy wrapping up the pin badge designs and getting them ready for client sign-off.

I might have over triple-checked everything, but there’s a certain pressure knowing they’re destined to become a collectible set. Definitely don’t want any fluff-ups there!

It’s been a wonderfully full-circle moment seeing them transform from initial pencil sketches, through watercolour studies, and finally into digital illustrations. Now, with the files all buttoned up, they’re ready to be sent off into the world to become actual, tangible pin badges.

There’s always a quiet, thrilling sense of excitement when you send artwork off to the printers or manufacturers. This particular milestone has left me with a lovely, warm sense of accomplishment.