FWCD Daffodil Garden Plants 2,000th Bulb

In 2017, Grace Goldman ’18 began a Daffodil garden at Fort Worth Country Day near the Upper School as part of the global Daffodil Project, which honors and recognizes the 1.5 million children who perished during the Holocaust. Each fall for the past seven years, FWCD students have planted daffodil bulbs in the garden. This year, the FWCD Daffodil Garden reached a significant milestone with its 2,000th bulb planted, and The Daffodil Project marked its 1 millionth bulb worldwide.  

Launched by the Atlanta-based nonprofit Am Yisrael Chai in 2010, The Daffodil Project started with the planting of 1,800 bulbs and has expanded to over 565 locations globally. The program provides the first 250 bulbs at no cost, with the participating organizations committing to planting another 250 within two years. Some organizations plant many times that amount.

Grace, the daughter of Heather Goldman, FWCD Third Grade Teacher, and FWCD alumnus Elliot Goldman ’90, initiated this garden project because she was inspired by her late-great-grandmother, Blanche,  a survivor of Auschwitz who was sent to a labor camp rather than the death camps. Grace’s grandmother and Blanche’s daughter, Rachel, has been instrumental in keeping the garden alive at FWCD by generously donating the 250 bulbs to plant each year.

Goldman was further inspired when reading Elie Wiesel’s book Night in her freshman English class. She proposed her project to English teachers, suggesting it as a partner to Night because she believed her classmates would be similarly inspired. After Grace graduated, her brother, Grant ’20, kept the project going. 

Knowing the 1 millionth bulb would be planted this year, The Daffodil Project President, Andrea Videleefsky, contacted partner organizations to share the news: “To date, we have planted over 978,000 daffodils in more than 565 locations worldwide. We could not have achieved this milestone without your support and involvement! This season is the planting of the 1 millionth daffodil bulb. We look forward to working together to continue this global initiative.”

Alex Seiden ’25 took the lead on the project, pulling together half of the 99-member freshman class to plant bulbs during advisory on Monday, November 11; the other half will complete the planting on November 19.  FWCD’s Plant Operations team drilled the pre-drilled holes for the students, so all they had to do was drop the bulb inside and bury it in the dirt. All Upper School students and faculty are invited next week to plant bulbs when they have time available. The fruits of their labor will bloom in the spring, just as they read Night in their English classes.