Taniwha homestead daffodil gardens open the CHB Spring Fling

Railene Mabin of Taniwha Daffodils, has planted another 2500 daffodils this year..

Taniwha Daffodils will have the honour of kicking off the 2017 Central Hawke's Bay Spring Fling tomorrow.

Taniwha Daffodils creator Railene Mabin said a late flurry of flowering activity had transformed the 10ha at her family's Taniwha homestead into a sea of yellow by last week.

"It's looking terrific," she said.

Daffodils blanket Taniwha homestead, on SH2 just south of Waipukurau, every spring.

With the help of her family, Railene has raised more than $250,000 for Plunket over the past 25 years by opening up the gates of the property every September so visitors can pick $5 bunches of the more than 2000 varieties of daffodils that grow there.

This year's Taniwha Daffodils event starts tomorrow and runs until September 30.

If the recent good run of weather continued, Mrs Mabin was expecting a big roll-up of visitors during opening weekend.

"Being a weekend - and judging by the number of people that have come the last few weekends but seen the 'closed' sign and turned around at the gates - it will start off with a bang, I think."

Railene, who was awarded a Queen's Service Medal this year for her fundraising efforts, said preparing for Taniwha Daffodils always involved "a lot of work".

Husband Barrie, 83, had spent hours on the ride-on mower creating pathways among the daffodils, while Railene, 82, had planted 2500 new daffodils this year.

"I normally plant 3000 but if you remember there was a drought and it was terribly dry over summer, and I was late starting planting."

As well as picking daffodils together at Taniwha Daffodils, parents can sip coffee which will be available for sale, to go with their picnic lunches by the lake, while children roam the grounds and play on swings hung from trees.

After a successful first outing last year, "Dusk in the Daffodils" would be returning on September 15, Railene said.

"It was fabulous last year. We got a beautiful night and we had food trucks and music and wine, and we had the shed all lit up, we had the daffodils lit up from down low, and we had the braziers out and people were out sitting on chairs.

"It was such a beautiful evening."

Taniwha Daffodils is the first of 30 events that will be held across CHB in September and October during this year's Spring Fling, which started with 13 events in 2015 before growing to 19 last year.

Artmosphere Gallery in Waipawa is also hosting the Spring Hurrah this Friday night, where attendees will enjoy bubbles, a continuous supper, and live entertainment before the gallery officially opens its New Beginnings exhibition.

The Wearable Creations fashion design competition and catwalk show is also on at the CHB Municipal Theatre on Saturday afternoon and night, while historic Oruawharo Homestead in Takapau is hosting high teas Saturday and Sunday.

* See thespringfling.nz for details.