黑料网

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Maintaining the Living Memorial of Daffodil Hill

Daffodil Hill, on 黑料网鈥檚 Kent Campus, is part of the May 4, 1970 site, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016.

The cascade of flowers on the hill overlooking 黑料网 Commons was part of a concept by 黑料网 Professor Emeritus Brinsley Tyrrell that he submitted for the university鈥檚 1985 design competition for a May 4 Memorial. Tyrrell also created the 鈥淟egend of the Iron Hoop鈥 sculptures located behind Henderson Hall and the 鈥淏ehind the Brain Plaza鈥 near Merrill Hall.

Originally, the hill displayed more than 58,000 daffodils. In the 32 years since this living art installation was first planted, 黑料网鈥檚 grounds crew has maintained the site, fertilizing the ground and adding new bulbs each year. Nature, and other factors, however, have made it difficult to guarantee that there will be a full display of flowers in bloom in early May each year.

Inspiration takes root

Tyrrell was teaching sculpture on campus on May 4, 1970. He witnessed the shootings and their aftermath. 鈥淎s part of my proposal, I wanted to plant 58,175 spring flowers all around the memorial, to symbolize the U.S. service people killed in Vietnam, which I felt was the whole background to the whole issue,鈥 Tyrell said, in a 2019 interview. His vision for the memorial was that it should bring people together and help them heal.

The competition rules, however, required entrants to be U.S. citizens. While Tyrrell was a legal, permanent resident, he was not a U.S. citizen at the time. Tyrrell鈥檚 proposal had to be dismissed.

Unity and growth

Marker for Daffodil Hill in the dirt
At the time, there was controversy around the memorial. Some protesters, mostly veterans, felt that a memorial to anti-war protesters would be disrespectful of those who had fought in the Vietnam War. On the other side of the issue, others felt that the memorial was intended to honor those who had protested the war, not the soldiers who had fought in it. Tyrrell felt that his idea could do both, so while the memorial was being built, he submitted a revised proposal to then-President Michael Schwartz. 鈥淚 went and saw the president. I handed him this proposal to plant 58,175 spring bulbs, which turned into daffodils. He liked it. I guess he liked flowers, but he also thought it might be a way to bring everyone together.鈥

As the bulbs were being planted, Tyrrell met some of the Vietnam veterans who were against building the memorial. 鈥淭hey said they couldn鈥檛 object anymore because, I think, 黑料网 was the first university to actually do anything for the Vietnam veterans, which is who the daffodils were for. So, in that sense, it was all a big success,鈥 he said.

In spring 1990, 58,175 daffodils bloomed on the hill 鈥 one flower to honor each of the U.S. service members who lost their lives in Vietnam. The site was marked with a flat, granite marker, which over the years was accidentally buried, lost and then rediscovered 鈥 most recently in fall 2020 during the annual bulb planting. It has been cleared and ongoing maintenance is planned to keep it uncovered. Installing a marker that is more easily visible has also been discussed.

Maintaining a living memorial

鈥淲e rely totally on Mother Nature and what she gives us to handle throughout the year,鈥 said Rebekkah Berryhill, grounds manager for 黑料网. She oversees all ground-related maintenance of the Kent Campus. Berryhill began working with the grounds crew while she was a student at 黑料网 in the 1990s and says she 鈥渆nded up falling in love with working outside.鈥 She worked in the department before becoming its interim manager and now, manager. 鈥淚鈥檓 a Flash through and through,鈥 said Berryhill.

The original intent of the installation was that the field of daffodils would bloom in late April and early May to coincide with campus May 4 observations. But 32 years later, because of climate change, the flowers have begun to bloom earlier. 鈥淲e鈥檝e changed our hardiness zone within the past 15 years. So, that tells you that some things are really changing,鈥 said Berryhill. 鈥淣ow, this part of Ohio is a warmer zone that it was.鈥

The intent on the hill is to have a mass of all-yellow daffodils. Currently there is a mix of jumbo King Alfred, jumbo Dutch Master and Jonquil Quail varieties.  Occasionally, Berryhill notices some white and peach-faced daffodils in the mix. 鈥淲e can get some changes just due to a bee buzzing around, getting a bit of pollen and cross-pollinating,鈥 she said.

Addressing the myths

There are several, persistent misconceptions about Daffodil Hill that Berryhill wanted to address. One is that the campus squirrels and other wildlife eat the plants and bulbs. 鈥淭hankfully, daffodils aren鈥檛 something that most wildlife eat, but we battle with the squirrels and chipmunks,鈥 said Berryhill. 鈥淲hen they store their nuts as their winter food cache, they may interrupt the growth cycle of the daffodils by removing some of the soil on top of the bulbs. Then, they鈥檙e not as insulated.鈥

鈥淲e鈥檙e constantly battling nature,鈥 said Berryhill. And also human nature: 鈥淭he people who walk through campus see a burst of color and are drawn to it. So, we鈥檒l see a young man plucking a bunch of daffodils and handing them to his beau. Or someone will stop and pick one and put it in their hair or behind their ear.鈥

 鈥淎nother thing I would love to stress is that I often see articles that say that the Grounds Department doesn鈥檛 let the daffodils grow up; they mow the hill,鈥 said Berryhill. 鈥淣ever in my time in the department have we taken the hill down until late June or early July. Then, the grass and everything is growing 18 inches high!鈥

This distinction is important because, after blooming, daffodils need time to photosynthesize to feed their bulbs for the coming year. 鈥淲e definitely have good practices as far as making sure things come up each year,鈥 Berryhill said.

Annual challenges

Berryhill says her team is always out fertilizing the plants and every October and November planting bulbs. Volunteers have also helped with the annual planting. 鈥淚n the past, we鈥檝e worked with some of the fraternities and sororities, ROTC, Biology Club and others,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut on some days, we鈥檇 say, 鈥榃e have 15 slots, two time periods and 5,000 bulbs,鈥 and then only have two people show up.鈥

Currently the grounds department absorbs the cost of maintaining Daffodil Hill. 鈥淎t one time we were able to help with the cost through a campus enhancement fund or various beautification projects, said Berryhill. 鈥淏ut there hasn鈥檛 been a big pool of money necessarily strictly dedicated to the replanting of the daffodils.鈥

Restoring Daffodil Hill

So, what would it take to restore Daffodil Hill to its original strength of 58,000+?

Over the past five years, Berryhill estimates that her department has put in about 35,000 daffodils, including 14,000 that her team planted while the campus was closed due to COVID-19.

鈥淪ome extra funding and labor would help to keep us functioning and keep it at that,鈥 said Berryhill. 鈥淚 really feel like there needs to be something larger than just my department going forward. I don鈥檛 know that we have the resources to do it all.鈥

Getting nearly 58,000 daffodils to bloom around the same time could be possible, Berryhill says, with the extra help of volunteers. 鈥淲e can plant them in chunks. We had a decent show over the past two or three years, but we didn鈥檛 necessarily line up with the full bloom exactly May 4. It just doesn鈥檛 do that.

Volunteers wouldn鈥檛 need to have any special skills or 鈥渁 green thumb,鈥 says Berryhill. 鈥淒affodils are super easy to plant and hard to mess up.鈥

The enduring message of Daffodil Hill

Berryhill said, 鈥淭hat Brinsley Tyrrell was able to accomplish this 鈥 it鈥檚 amazing. It鈥檚 a beautiful way to honor so many lives. I have a great appreciation for him.鈥

When asked about what he felt the message of Daffodil Hill could express to students on campus today, and in the future, Tyrrell said, 鈥淲ell I suppose there are two messages. One is don鈥檛 forget. Don鈥檛 forget the students and what happened, but it鈥檚 also don鈥檛 forget the Vietnam War. Then, flowers, I think, are always a sign of hope, a sign of a new beginning, a sign of renewal. So, maybe that. I mean, don鈥檛 forget the past, don鈥檛 forget the lessons one hopes of being learned from it, but it鈥檚 all going forward.鈥

POSTED: Friday, May 6, 2022 03:10 PM
UPDATED: Friday, December 09, 2022 05:43 PM
WRITTEN BY:
Phil Soencksen