Launch of Special Effort to Honor Jean MacAusland's Legacy for the 50th Nantucket Daffodil Festival

With the 50th Daffodil Festival and Flower Show coming up in April 2026, The Nantucket Garden Club will be launching an effort to honor Jean's Legacy, the founder of the Nantucket Daffodil Festival. They also hope to plant 50,000 daffodil bulbs this fall, so all of the residents and visitors to the island can enjoy the beautiful landscape. The Garden Club will be planting these along the Milestone-Polpis Road intersection where the new bike paths were just completed.

In 1974, Jane MacAusland, the president of the Nantucket Garden Club, launched a plan to plant one million daffodils to bring color and joy to the island in the spring time. She helped create the very first Daffodil Flower Show, Antique Car Parade, and the Sconset Tailgate Picnic. Her visions eventually grew into the annual Daffodil Festival which is now a cherished tradition across the island. This fundraiser hopes to honor her legacy and continue the beauty and joy that the Daffodil Festival brings each year.

There will be a raffle, $10 per ticket that is being drawn on August 20th. Purchases are available at the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce Office, Zero Main Street or at the G.S. Gallery, 40 Straight Wharf. The raffle is to win the "Basket of Daffodils" by G.S. Hill, a beautiful original Framed Oil Painting.

There are a variety of donation opportunities, which can be made online at https://nantucketgardenclub.or...or by mail to Nantucket Garden Club PO Box 627, Nantucket, MA 02554. Donations must be received by August 25, 2025.