This autumn the Short Hills Garden Club planted 700 unusual daffodils at three separate locations in Millburn-Short Hills—the Community Garden located across the street from the Neighborhood House on Sunset Drive, the Walbridge Rose Garden at Taylor Park and at the Millennium Garden across the street from the Short Hills train station. These locations comprise community service projects for the club. The bulbs will add another season of blooms to the area.

With more than 25,000 registered cultivars (named hybrids) divided among the 13 divisions to choose from, the club selected to the new Garden Club of America (GCA) daffodil, named by the Royal Horticultural Society to honor the GCA's upcoming centennial in 2013 for its plantings. The Short Hills Garden Club is one of the founding clubs of the GCA and celebrated its own centennial in 2006.  

The actual process for picking a suitable commemorative daffodil for the national organization's centennial took more than three years. In the spring of 2006, Liz Ellwood of the Rumson Garden Club traveled to Holland to view the potential candidate in cultivation.  She received a few and distributed them along the East Coast to see how they would perform. The tests came out very well. Since garden clubs use flowers for show competition as well as in competitive flower arrangements, not just any daffodil would do.

An international traveler, it was hybridized in Northern Ireland as a cross between "Raspberry Ring" and "Fragrant Rose," then grown in Holland by Jan Pennings and ultimately distributed in the U.S. through bulb supplier Brent and Becky's Bulbs. The GCA daffodil was only available for purchase by members of the Garden Club of America.

This Division 2 (large-cupped) daffodil has a white perianth (outer part of the flower), green center eye and deep yellow corona with a wide, ruffled and bold orangey red rim.  It blooms mid- to late- season and is a good naturalizer, making it an excellent candidate for planting in parks and other community locations. Its long-lasting bloom also serves it well as a cut flower.

The purchase of the bulbs for the various community locations was made possible by a generous gift made in honor of a past president of The Short Hills Garden Club. The Short Hills Garden Club is one of three garden clubs in Millburn-Short Hills.