Taniwha Daffodils: Takapau grower’s petal power for health funds

Railene Mabin, demonstrates how to package a Daffodil bouquet to Maria Edwards of Onga Onga in 2017. Photo / Warren Buckland

For Railene Mabin the start of spring is the start of a busy season of daffodil enthusiasts walking through her fields and picking bright-yellow bunches.

With visitors expected to start arriving at the 8ha house paddock on the family-owned Taniwha farm this weekend, she’s been busy.

The flowers bloomed early compared with last year when they had a 50% to 70% drop in yield due to the wet weather.

Mabin, who turns 90 this year, has a passion for fundraising and had started selling the daffodils to fundraise for Plunket, but decided to focus the proceeds towards the Takapau Health Centre this year.

“It’s a big job and it’s terribly rewarding.”

One of the first times she visited the property as “a new bride” she was intrigued by the bulbed flowers and knew it could be something big.

Her paddock is the opening event of the Central Hawke’s Bay Spring Fling, which runs from September 1 to October 30, with events and deals throughout.

Guests can visit, pack a picnic and bring a bucket for bouquets.

It is run by volunteers and “the money all goes into healthcare for the community.”

Mabin said they used to wrap every bunch but there were massive queues waiting to pay.

It took special eyes to understand the age of a flower and how long it would last in a vase.

“Over the years we have got very good at it because sometimes old people are blind and they pick dead flowers.”

They stocked early, medium and late varieties so flowers could be picked over time and still look fresh.

“They have been a labour of love for years and years,” she said.

Taniwha daffodils have flowered early this year. Photo / Warren Buckland

“People can’t pick flowers, would you believe, every year people ask how you pick a flower. With a daffodil you run fingers down the seam and just snap it at the bottom between your finger and thumb.”

She said the best way to keep a bunch of daffodils looking nice was to change the water twice a week and cut the stems every so often and “they should last about 10 days”.

The iconic property on Takapau plains had just the right mixture of dry and wet weather that made for a perfect growing environment .

“Just where we are at the bottom of the Takapau Plains it is dry and daffodils seem to not mind drying out in the summer, I think it keeps them healthy and we don’t have any of the bugs.”

Taniwha Daffodils are open from August 31 for three weekends and two weeks until September 15.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.