110320_036_Naturalized daffodils.jpg, originally uploaded by Alan Buckingham.

Gardening writer and photographer Alan Buckingham tells us about this March 21, 2011 image: It’s a shot of an area of woodland carpeted with naturalized daffodils (cultivar unknown). The wood is part of Painshill Park in Surrey, England, an estate created in the eighteenth century by Charles Hamilton. Following his Grand Tour of Europe in 1725-7, Hamilton deliberately set about acquiring land and creating a “landscape” of ornamental pleasure grounds, lakes, open parkland, an Alpine valley, a grotto, and a vineyard. His ambition was to recreate his experiences in his own backyard, so to speak. The Park is full of artfully placed follies, included a Gothic temple and tower, a ruined abbey, a Temple of Bacchus, and a Turkish warrior chief’s tent.

Alan’s website is here at alanbuckingham.com.