A volunteer group recently planted about 750 daffodil bulbs at the Round Barn in Arcadia, Oklahoma, giving promise the historic Route 66 site will have a spectacularly colorful spring.
According to The Oklahoman newspaper, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation gave the bulbs to the Arcadia Historical and Preservation Society.
Ann Young, vice president of the historical society board, applied for the grant and spearheaded the planting of the bulbs. Board members and other Round Barn volunteers planted the flowers on the slope in front of the barn, where they will provide an explosion of spring color for travelers along historic Route 66.
“The nonprofit Arcadia Historical and Preservation Society depends on donations for beautification projects at the Round Barn, and we are so appreciative of this generous gift from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation,” said Young, whose husband, Hank, and son, Tom, helped the planting crew get the bulbs in the ground within a couple of hours.
The foundation provided 65,000 free bulbs to neighborhood associations and volunteer organizations for planting in visible public spaces in Oklahoma County as part of the Rebloom Oklahoma initiative.
Daffodils sprout in the early spring, sometimes even in late February if a good rain and one or two temperate days occur. The bulbs will come alive each year indefinitely. Daffodils from Cherokee Indian homestead sites that date to the 1830s still pop up annually in eastern Oklahoma.
The Round Barn remains closed temporarily because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Arcadia Historical and Preservation Society owns and operates the Round Barn.
William Odor built the barn in 1898, and its upper floor eventually was used for dances (and still is at least once a month during the spring and summer).
After years of neglect, the barn’s roof collapsed in 1988.
A retired local contractor, Luke Robison, assembled a group of volunteers called the Over-the-Hill Gang to restore the barn. The roof was rebuilt over a four-year period for $65,000. It remains one of the most impressive historic restorations on Route 66.
(Image of the Round Barn in 2012 by el-toro; image of daffodils by Anna Hesser, both via Flickr)
Can’t wait to see that in the spring.