Remembering the Late Alfred King

John King has recently become a member of the Daffodil Society, following the death of his father, Alfred, who had been a member for many years. Here John pays tribute to Alfred:

Thank you for the kind words about my Father. He was not known nationally by members of the Daffodil Society but he was known locally by those who exhibited at local shows; Dale Griffin and Michael Baxter being amongst them. They attended his funeral.

Alfred developed his interest late in life. As soon as that interest was sparked, he wished he had begun to grow Daffodils much earlier.  They became his favourite flower. As I recall, he visited Mrs Abel Smith at Letty Green. He met Michael who was assisting her. Soon he was growing and showing at Harpenden, Knebworth and Biggleswade. It saddens me that these shows are no more. However, for many years he competed against a band from Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire who enjoyed the banter and friendship when they met over the three week-ends at these shows. Cups, medals and certificates were won and lost. Although he did not compete at a national level, for years he attended the RHS shows held in London and at Wisley. In later years, I drove him to Wisley and it was a day out we looked forward to.

When he was not tending to daffodils, tending to his garden and allotment, he would spend hours looking at catalogues and digesting the journals. I knew there was something amiss this year when he lacked interest in this year’s crop. Sadly, he passed away in May of this year, aged 100. In his later life, his favourite daffodil was Sheelagh Rowan.

His daffodil legacy has been potted up so we will be thinking of him when they bloom in the Spring.