Natural splendour

EVERY autumn, the team at Waddesdon Manor plants half a million bulbs in only a few short weeks, a task accomplished with help from volunteers and local children. ‘We start in Daffodil Valley,’ says Mike Buffin, head of gardens. ‘This is part of the original Victorian landscape garden, where we aim to plant 40,000 reliably perennial narcissus bulbs in two weeks.’ The team uses a simple recipe containing four persistently perennial daffodil varieties, which will flower