Daffodil Days at Oakland

Happening now at Historic Oakland Cemetery, Daffodil Days is absolutely beautiful and it's a vibrant signal that spring is well on its way to Atlanta!

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

This year's Daffodil Days runs from February 20 to March 15, but don't worry if you don't make it by the 15th. There are still a number of daffodils in bloom and yet-to-bloom, so you have a little extra time, but not much. Don't wait too long and totally miss this celebration of the daffodil.

When you enter the main gate, look for a sign that has a QR Code to a map that shows the largest concentrations of daffodils. Some smartphone cameras are automatically QR Code readers, but if you have to download one you can do so for free. The map is also available on Oakland's website.

Oakland is 48-acres, but a map isn't absolutely necessary, unless you're here to see the daffodils and only the daffodils. My visits to Oakland are never for just one thing. Personally, I love exploring for fascinating architecture, interesting grave-marker designs, and read the epitaphs which are sometimes humorous...on purpose. I love reading the names, too. And let's certainly not forget the gorgeous stained-glass windows in some of the mausoleums.  

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

If you can, and you're wanting make photographs, come by during the Golden Hour, which is about an hour before sunset (or an hour before sunrise). I find this time and date website an accurate resource. If you're seeking out that fabulous Golden Hour light, you might want to plan multiple trips...this particular light, as beautiful as it is, is fleeting.

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

There are approximately 70 varieties of daffodils planted here! Look for as many as you can possibly find. They come in a variety of whites, oranges, and yellows, not to mention the vast array of shapes they proudly show off.

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

Not only is Oakland historic, so are many of its daffodils. Look on the map I mentioned earlier. Daffodil blooms mark where you'll find signage that shares the some of the history behind some of Oakland's beautiful yellow and white daffodils. You've heard of rescue dogs and rescue cats. Well, Oakland has rescue daffodils!

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

Be sure to check out the Cemetery's blog where you'll learn more about daffodils as well as an incredibly wide array of topics relative Oakland. It's truly fascinating!

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

Did you know that Historic Oakland Cemetery is one of the few historic cemeteries that has a giftshop (currently open only online). It's in the Bell Tower which also serves as the Welcome Center for cemetery visitors.

Don't let that weird you out. In fact, cemeteries were basically the first public parks in the United States. While today we have many beautiful parks across Atlanta, Oakland has continued to be a place of gathering, many of its events being fundraisers that bring in funds to help care for and restore the cemetery grounds, and many of the events are also educational.

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

If you'd like to do a little celebrity-spotting while you're here, check out the Famous Residents page on Oakland's website. There are dozens of former Atlanta Mayors, former governors, civic leaders, famous golfer Bobby Jones, and Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell, to name a few.

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

There's a lot more in bloom here than just daffodils, including other bulbs, other flowers, and flowering plants and trees! Of practically every color! It's truly a beautiful time to visit Oakland. I'll include more of the other flowers in bloom on the wanderlust ATLANTA Facebook Page.

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

There are benches on some of the gravesites for families of the deceased to use when visiting, but there are additional ones on pathways and gardens for general public use, including this one gifted to Oakland by the Piedmont Garden Club, which was founded in 1931...90 years ago!

You'll see a lot of rosemary throughout the garden, also in bloom right now. While many of us use rosemary in our cooking, it's also a symbol of remembrance, thus the reason you'll see it in so many cemeteries.

Daffodil Days at Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis Swann Taylor

If you'd like to learn more about the harbingers of spring, the beautiful daffodil, please visit the Georgia Daffodil Society's website. Founded in 1954, this is an excellent daffodil resource for our growing region.

Make your way to Historic Oakland Cemetery soon so you don't miss this year's Daffodil Days. As always, this event is self-guided and free, as is (limited) nearby parking. See you there!

Oakland Cemetery Photography Workshop

My first published photograph was in my senior year in high school in the largest newspaper in the state, on the other side of the state where I lived. I'd moved away from home on the East Coast and finished high school in Wyoming. Other than what my art teacher, Duane, taught me about photography when I was on yearbook staff, I've never had an actual photography class. I've picked up tips from others, learned a lot on my own, and have taken a webinar or workshop from time to time, but that's it.

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

These photos are from a Photography Workshop I went on not too long ago at Historic Oakland Cemetery, a stunning, picturesque example of a "rural garden" cemetery in the 19th century. 

Some think it's creepy to host events in a cemetery. I think they've watched too many zombie movies. There was a time when the only public land in small towns was the local cemetery, so it became a gathering place where citizens would socialize and honor their dearly departed. Nothing creepy about that! 

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

There's another Photography Workshop coming up at Oakland Cemetery later this month! Sunset is the BEST for beautifully dramatic photos. The golden hour, it's called.

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Oakland Cemetery dates to 1850 and started with only six acres. Today, it's 48 acres and is home to approximately 70,000 "residents", about the same number of spectators you'll see at an Atlanta United game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium!

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Among it's 70,000 residents, Oakland Cemetery is the final resting place of a few famous personalities and notable citizens, including Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind; Bobby Jones, golf legend; and Maynard Jackson, the first African-American mayor of the City of Atlanta.

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

There are many different tours of Oakland Cemetery. You could go all year and not take the same tour twice! To name a couple, there are the Sites, Symbols, and Stories tours and the Music Makers tours!

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

And there are many different annual events at Oakland Cemetery, including Tunes from the Tombs, Malts & Vaults of Oakland, and the Run Like Hell 5K, to name a few.

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

It's also a lovely setting for an evening stroll, camera or not, before or after dinner, perhaps. There are numerous nearby dining destinations, many flanking the cemetery including Six Feet Under Pub & Fish House, Tin Lizzy's Cantina, and Agave.

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Locals love Oakland Cemetery for its beauty and events and visitors love it for its beauty and its celebrity residents. It's a magnificent piece of historical significance and it's a celebrated icon. I for one hope the art, architecture, history and gardens at Oakland will be around eons.

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

That first published photograph was of a toy drive for Toys for Tots. It was published in Wyoming's largest newspaper in Cheyenne, where I'd never even been. It was a journalistic shot, a career path I did not pursue, however, in Corporate Communications, my eventual career path, photography has become a cornerstone in what I do.

Photography Workshop at Historic Oakland Cemetery | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

After high school graduation, I returned to the East Coast, but a month later I moved back to Wyoming to live with my art teacher and his wife, Pip, for the summer. On their goat ranch, we'd get up every morning at 5:30am to milk their 40 goats, I learned how to bake, I jogged a lot getting ready for boot camp in the U.S. Navy, enjoyed an ample amount of MTV in its infancy, and there were many more photographs. 

I am ever grateful to Duane and Pip for their hospitality and for their generous contributions in shaping my future.