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Painting the Hillside…With Daffodils (New Photos)

The Daffodil Garden Closes April 6

By Michael P. Neufeld
Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Running Springs, CA – "When I plant about 20,000 daffodils each year," Gene Bauer told RIMOFTHEWORLD.net, "I'm painting a hillside and not a canvas."

The former art teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District has been painting the hillside at The Daffodil Garden in Running Springs for over four decades and the private garden is enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year during the approximately three-week open house.

The Daffodil Garden in Running Springs offers a pallet of color as Gene and Dale Bauer paint the hillsides with flowers. (Photo by Michael P. Neufeld.)

Gene (Alma) and Dale Bauer are very private people but enjoy sharing their garden with visitors between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily. The garden will close at 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 6.

The Daffodil Garden in Running Springs will close for the season on Sunday, April 6. The garden is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Photo by Michael P. Neufeld.)

"After next season," Dale Bauer told RIMOFTHEWORLD.net, "we will be closing the garden to the public as it's getting more and more difficult for Gene to plant the bulbs. And she plants each one herself. I'm responsible for the flowers found in the wooden tubs located throughout our garden."

The Bauer's daffodil artwork actually started in 1957 when Gene planted 24 bulbs next to their rustic cabin that would later be destroyed during one of several fires that passed through the Running Springs area over the years.

The Slide Fire burned in several places next to paths at The Daffodil Garden in Running Springs in October 2007. (Photo by Michael P. Neufeld.)

"That first planting was so successful," Gene Bauer stated with a grin, "I continued planting more bulbs each succeeding year. The most I have ever planted was in 1993 when 35,000 bulbs went into the ground.

Artist Gene Bauer paints the hillside near her Running Springs residence with daffodils. The private Daffodil Garden will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until Sunday, April 12. (Photo by Michael P. Neufeld.)

"I probably have 100 or more different daffodils," the artist stated, "some only one or two of a kind. The large drifts that cover the hillside are composed of about 20 different kinds and may include Binkie, Bravoure, Camelot, Chromacolor, Decoy, Fortissimo, Fortune, Hawera, Hillstar, Matador, Peeping Tom, Pink Charm, Tahiti, Thalia, Tunis, and World's Favorite to name a few."

The Bauer's report each bulb costs about $1.50-$2 each with some individual bulbs costing much more. The garden is "natural" in that it has never been artificially watered, fertilized or over-planted during the summer.

Butterflies are frequent visitors to The Daffodil Garden in Running Springs along with visitors from the mountain communities and from around the world. (Photo by Michael P. Neufeld.)

"Rodents are animals are not attracted to the daffodils," Gene Bauer stated, "because all parts of the plant are toxic. That's one of the reasons why we don't allow dogs inside the garden."

Gene Bauer indicated it takes about six weeks for her to plant the bulbs in drifts with each bulb placed in the soil about six inches apart.

"Once I decide where a drift will be planted," Bauer added, "I use a shovel to turn over the soil to a depth of 8-10 inches. Drifts are composed of from 5-6,000 bulbs and I always begin at the bottom of a slope and work uphill."

Bauer actually sits on top of the already planted bulbs as she makes her way up the hillside and explains she plants roughly 600 bulbs before her mid-day nourishment and another 400 or so in the afternoon.

"It's always great to know I have completed over half the task for the day before lunch," Bauer continued. Another trick the artist uses is to never place more than 200 bulbs on the ground beside her if she's planting 1,000 in a day. "That way it doesn't overwhelm me."

The 5-acre hillside next to the residence of Gene and Dale Bauer becomes a colorful masterpiece of daffodils each year. The private garden will close to the public after the current season that runs from March 28-April 12 due to retirement. (Photo by Michael P. Neufeld.)

Bauer, who claims she knew nothing about daffodils the first year she planted bulbs in her Running Springs garden, now comfortably rattles off facts about the flowers that she paints the hillside with each year.

"The first year a single bulb produces 1-3 flowers," Gene Bauer said. "The bulb divides itself, and the second year 4-6 flowers appear. It further divides and the third year it produces 6-7 flowers. The most flowers I have ever observed from one bulb are 28 blooms.

"Some of the bulbs have been in the ground 40 years and still bloom," Bauer reports. "Others, not so healthy or vigorous to begin with, succumb in 3-4 years."

The private garden is financed and maintained by the Bauer's and is located next to St. Anne's in the Mountain Catholic Church at 30480 Fredalba Road just a short drive off Highway 330.

See Daffodil for a discussion about The Daffodil Garden and its projected closing in 2009.