Brodie’s blooming marvellous springtime display

On the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Brodie again joined the Lovat Scouts, serving in the Dardanelles, Egypt and Palestine. He was awarded the Military Cross, was mentioned in dispatches and retired, holding the rank of major, due to ill health. While he was away on service, from 1915 until July 1917, his stud-book records that Mr J M Annand, Brodie’s head gardener from 1911–38, continued to make crosses and to sow some seeds, some of which were later to receive awards.

After he retired from the army, as well as resuming his work in breeding daffodils, Brodie maintained the family tradition of public service: he was Vice-Convener of Nairnshire County Council for 28 years and also Lord Lieutenant of the county for many years up until 1934. His work on breeding daffodils was held in high esteem, which was marked when the RHS conferred on him their highest award in 1942 – the Victorian Medal of Honour. After his death on 15 February 1943 at the age of 74, Brodie’s widow Violet continued to maintain and distribute his seedlings. Further seedlings were raised by Brodie Gardens Nursery and 14 cultivars were registered up to 1959.

During his life, Ian Brodie particularly associated with daffodil enthusiasts in Ireland, including J Lionel Richardson and his wife Nell, and Guy Wilson – and they routinely exchanged cultivars for breeding. There were only four daffodil breeders in the UK when Major Brodie started out, so when the collection belonging to Walter Ware was struck by narcissus fly, almost wiping out the Fortune bulb, he sent the four remaining bulbs to each breeder. The bulb he sent to Ian Brodie was the only one to survive. Many of the daffodil variants of Brodie origin were cross-bred from that last surviving Fortune bulb.

The Red Hackle story

Ian Brodie chose to name the daffodils he created after places he visited during his wartime service, including Gallipoli, Istria and Red Sea, as well as local places like Tain, Rosemarkie and Dallas, and people he knew around the local area. He also named one of the Brodie daffodils ‘Red Hackle’ after the military headdress of the Black Watch.

The red hackle is the clipped feather plume attached to the military headdress of the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland. Originally thought to be a reward for their achievement at the Battle of Geldermaisen in 1794, in fact there’s evidence to show that the red hackle was worn by the regiment during the American War of Independence (1775–83).

‘His love of and enthusiasm for the Daffodil had a delightful schoolboy quality of intensity and eagerness to the very end of his life ... He would conduct his Daffodil friends ... to the great old walled garden where time was forgotten as one revelled in the beauties and wonders of beds of seedlings selected in the last few seasons which were being grown on for further trial of their merits. Most of the time of one’s visits to Brodie when the Daffodils were out was spent in pilgrimages from the library to the garden.’

[from Guy Wilson's obituary notice for Ian Brodie, published in 1946]

Today the daffodils are cultivated under the careful watch of Brodie Castle’s head gardener Ed Walling and his team, who are always on the hunt for more Brodie daffodils to add to the collection, which continues to expand and evolve. In 2019, two daffodils that hadn’t flowered for eight years made an appearance in the Playful Garden National Daffodil Collection – Debutante and Egg Nog – which was an exciting time for the team! Debutante is a Lionel Richardson cultivar with Wild Rose (bred by Ian Brodie) as one of its parents and Egg Nog was raised by Nell Richardson and also has Brodie cultivars in its ancestry.

Ian Brodie’s walled garden is now our popular Playful Garden and is where the National Daffodil Collection of Brodie daffodils is based. First opened in 2018, the Playful Garden is home to a fascinating menagerie of characters, all inspired by stories from the Clan Brodie, who called the castle home for over 400 years. Centre stage is Brodie Bunny, a giant 6.5m-high white rabbit relaxing on the grassy slopes overlooking the National Daffodil Collection beds and many of the features in the Playful Garden reflect the daffodil names.

The National Collection in the Playful Garden is made up of six daffodil beds which are 45m long by 10m wide, each producing around 70,000 bulbs. Each row is planted with 30 bulbs of the 116 cultivars bred by Ian Brodie that still remain here, as well as another 86 varieties which have a connection to Brodie.

At the end of each season the Brodie gardening team dig up and dry out the bulbs on the original racks in the daffodil shed, before they’re replanted or sold on site, as well as around 20,000 bulbs that are distributed to other Trust properties. The Brodie team are keen to spread the bulbs around as this is vital in preserving the collection, which is vulnerable to disease and pests.

The 116 Brodie daffodil varieties that survived are direct descendants of the 428 that Major Brodie bred between 1899 and 1942. Many of these were lost over time, gifted to others or not documented, and the team is now attempting to track down any that were sent abroad – some as far away as America, Australia and New Zealand. Thankfully, Ian Brodie kept detailed records of his hybrid successes and failures, and of where he sent bulbs and to whom, in his stock book, which is still at Brodie Castle. His meticulous records show how much work he put into this – he made around 12,500 crosses between different daffodils in his day. We’re very lucky to have these records as many other breeders didn’t bother to document their work.

A detailed booklet about Ian Brodie’s career as a cultivator, written by Duncan Donald and published by the National Trust for Scotland can be obtained for £4.99 plus postage by emailing brodiecastle@nts.org.uk or you can pick up a copy at the Castle Café when it’s open.

Images: Mark Appleton Photography, Ray Cox Photography, NTS Photo Library