Daffodils. Near me I have started to see them appearing on the margins of the Forest, and I’m not sure it is a good thing.
For a start, they are not native. The genuinely wild daffodil for this part of Europe, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, has a much more specific association with ancient woodland or unimproved meadow. Although there are parts of the Forest that could, in theory, provide suitable habitat, in practice it is seldom, if ever, encountered here.
A plant like the wild daffodil, which often persists in long-established, less disturbed woodland or pasture, simply never gained a foothold in the Soignes in any meaningful way.
These are garden cultivars, either deliberately planted or, more likely, the result of illegal garden waste dumping. The odd clump is not a major problem in itself, but such dumping can introduce more aggressive and unwelcome species.
They are not particularly good for pollinators either, despite flowering early. Our native insects have long relied on other plants at this time of year: Goat Willow, Hazel, Blackthorn, Lesser Celandine and Ground Ivy, all of them abundant and far more useful.
The garden daffodil is not really needed here, and isolated specimens like this are more of a warning sign than anything else.
What do you think? Should we be removing them?