Nothing says springtime more than golden daffodils. Up by the privet hedge in our back garden (American: yard) we once planted several daffodil bulbs. Years later this is the show we have come to expect in late March . They have burst forth, trumpeting the turning of seasons. Though winter may still have a few cold blasts up its sleeve, the worst of it is gone and ahead we can almost sniff the sweet warm aromas of summertime.
The history of daffodils is very long. Some say that the occupying Romans first brought them to The British Isles almost two thousand years ago but evidence for this is flimsy. Others speak of "wild" daffodils as if they are native flowers
Our little patch of daffodils stirred from sleep as January passed the baton to February - sending up probing green fingers to test the air. They were far too early so had to bide their time till mid-March.
Of course, William Wordsworth wrote a famous poem called "Daffodils" in 1804 and I blogged about it back in March 2009. I also notice that back in 2017 I wrote my own poem about daffodils. Go here. It was five years ago and though I say it myself I remain pretty pleased with those fourteen lines.
Daffodils are very cheerful but not being a fan of yellow, I don't have any planted. That's in spite of the fact that my town is famous for them and even has a Daffodil Parade. I'm definitely on Team Tulip.
ReplyDeleteTulips are lovely but when cut they have a nasty habit of collapsing.
DeleteI do like the poem. You made me want to go to our park to see the annual daffodil display but then I remembered, wrong season.
ReplyDeleteI guess that August is the best time to see daffodils trumpeting in Melba?
DeleteMy second son was born in late August and we were welcomed home with several vases of daffodils. The two will always be tied together in my mind
DeleteYou could have named him Daffy.
DeleteThey are truly such happy flowers, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteThey are but you cannot eat them. They are poisonous.
DeleteDaffodils put on a great show. They are bright, colorful and shapely.
ReplyDeleteAnd reliable too. Year after year they come back to greet us.
DeleteThe daffodils are beautiful. I love yellow flowers, they always look happy.
ReplyDeleteThere's no camouflage. Daffodils are right there - in your face.
DeleteI like seeing flowers massed in beds, daffodils, tulips, pretty much anything that makes a swathe of colour.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we ever imagined what that little bed of bulbs would become.
DeleteIt won't surprise you to read that I love daffies - last but not least because they are yellow, which is my favourite colour. (I am wearing a light grey and yellow striped jumper and eating my muesli from a yellow bowl with white polka dots as we speak.)
ReplyDeleteYours look beautiful and healthy. You are right, we are to expect at least one more cold spell, but so far, March has been exceptionally sunny here. Yesterday temperatures felt almost summerly, and today is to be the warmest day of the year so far at 21C. By Thursday, we're in for a max of 5C. Hopefully, not too many tender blossoms on fruit trees etc. will suffer.
I see your neighbours have a trampolene. They are omnipresent these days, aren't they! I am sure they are great fun, but oh so unsightly.
I agree about the trampoline. Fortunately, the girls next door rarely use it nowadays.
DeleteI remember learning Wordsworth's poem at school. Is it still taught at school? It's stayed with me, more or less, throughout my life. Seeing your blog header and photos, I recited it to myself! They look such cheerful flowers, though I prefer to see them in the ground, rather than cut and in a vase.
ReplyDeleteI used to present "Daffodils" to many of my English classes. I believe that poem is part of our cultural birthright. It is also a skilfully constructed poem.
DeleteWe also have a host of golden (yellow) daffodils growing alongside our drive. It was a very pleasant surprise to find that so many had been planted in our garden.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice gift the previous owners left you JayCee!
DeleteCheerful plants are daffodils they welcome the spring with a true yellow. Funny how we categorise our plants (and creatures) into good/bad or foreign/indigenous, when they just travel, just like us.
ReplyDeleteI will keep your last point in mind Thelma.
DeleteThe village associations around here organised daffodil plant in the grass verges along the roadsides. They are now so stunning as to be almost ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteShame they don't last a bit longer. They look scruffy when they die back.
DeleteI always love to see daffodils pop up in my garden and it reassures me spring is close. Greg always used to complain that generally there were too many pink,red, white or blue flowers in a garden, so I always tried to find yellow flowers too and daffodils helped fill that demand!
ReplyDeleteRed, white and blue flowers? You must be very patriotic ADDY!
DeleteYour daffodils are so pretty! I was pleased as punch with the dozens of daffodils I got this year from the discounted bulbs I planted on New Year's Day. I was shocked that they bloomed at all this year. Now they're pretty much done, late March being past daffodil time in this part of the world. Wisteria is starting to bloom, though.
ReplyDeleteSouth Carolina is generally much warmer than northern England. Your climate is almost sub-tropical. Nice to hear that your daffs came through after the planting on New Year's Day.
DeleteI just spent several days burning fields and flowerbeds to clear out weeds and debris and to encourage growth. I hope soon we will have some daffodils growing too.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, it seems really odd for an invading military to plant flowers. Mines I understand but flowers strikes me as odd.
Good point about The Romans. They introduced sweet chestnut trees but they could be eaten. You can't eat daffodils.
DeleteIt is still quite cold here but I am sure April will bring some warmer days. My daffodils are getting so close to blooming - opening a tiny bit during the day but closing up tightly at night!
ReplyDeleteThey are teasing you Ellen! Naughty things!
DeleteIt would be good if you could get different colours of Daffodils. Psychedelic Daffodils? Another name for a Prog Rock band YP.
ReplyDeleteDave "Wildman" Northsider would be on drums but definitely NOT taking drugs in his hotel room.
DeleteDaffies can stir joy in even the savage heart.
ReplyDeleteQuite an impressive daffodil patch! Daffodils really seem to embody spring -- so warm and yellow and sunny.
ReplyDelete