his presence announced by his central trumpet that one would expect at least Handel or Purcell of and would not be at all surprised to hear, high-pitched, regal, ceremonious. The daffodil seems tailor-made for this. Website design By BotEap.comFor the past few days, cold at home, I have been impatient to see how the arrangements progress, the insistent growth of the stems, the bulging stems where, very soon, the yellow trumpet will emerge to capture all eyes. Website design By BotEap.comThere is excitement in the air. Website design By BotEap.comI’m sorry, and I’m glad to see these stately daffodils hard at work… because they only come once a year and stay for very little time. You do well to call me and remind me that your time is near and that I must be ready; ready to contemplate, enjoy, savor, their brilliant, memorable time, but always too short. Website design By BotEap.comThe name of the most beautiful boy in the world. Website design By BotEap.comNarcissus is the common English name for this graceful flower. But it’s not his real name. Like carefully treading nobles in our democratic days, daffodils have a sense of when to use their common name, never forgetting their true pedigree. In fact, they are Narcissus, the botanical name for a genus of mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering bulbs in the Amaryllis family, native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The publication “Daffodils for North American Gardens” cites between 50 and 100 wild species. Website design By BotEap.comThe story of Narcissus comes from Greek mythology. There a handsome young man of unsurpassed beauty became so obsessed with his own absorbing gaze that, gazing at himself in a pool of water, he fell and drowned. In some variations of the myth, the young man died of hunger and thirst because he could do nothing but marvel at himself. Website design By BotEap.comWe all know people like that. . . but the gods did not commemorate his bewitching looks and his foolishness as they did Narcissus’s by marking the place where he lay with Narcissus’ impressive plant. Website design By BotEap.comWary, sensitive to Narcissus’ foolishness, daffodils recount this story (and his true identity) only to uncritical admirers; they are just “daffodils” to everyone else. I am such a vetted, sensitive fan; This is how they have shared it with me, discreetly but with pride. It is rare, they say, to be commemorated like this by the gods of Olympus, and so it is. Website design By BotEap.comDescription Website design By BotEap.comAs all daffodils will attest, yours is a good look, a “stunner.” It has a trumpet-, bowl-, or disk-shaped central crown surrounded by a ring of six floral leaves called the perianth that joins in a tube at the anterior edge of the 3-lobed ovary. The seeds are black, round and swollen with a hard covering. The three outer segments are sepals and the three inner segments are petals. Website design By BotEap.comOf course, while all daffodils know these facts precisely (and many more), they understand that you may not be botanically minded. Therefore, they only demand one thing from you: unconditional admiration. It seems little to require such an exuberance of color and joy. If you have any objections, they are not above reminding us that all varieties of Narcissus contain the poisonous alkaloid lycorine, mainly in the bulb but also in the leaves. A hint of this usually gets the compliment deferred. Daffodils are used to generous praise and don’t hesitate to remind you if yours prove insufficient. The same is often the case with what is abundant, extravagant, and dazzlingly beautiful, constantly praised. . . they have their high standards to uphold, making sure we deliver. We give them unquestioning obedience; they cast upon us the blessing of their beauty. We are happy to do it; such beauty is rare and disappears too soon. Website design By BotEap.comThe love story between daffodils and poets. Website design By BotEap.comPoets, for whom a beautiful thing is a joy forever, have only to see a field of daffodils to become, well, poetic. In 1807 William Wordsworth published in “Poems in Two Volumes” words that he had first written in 1807. Website design By BotEap.comEvery daffodil knows, and with joy too, these magnificent words of beauty, optimism and satisfaction: Website design By BotEap.com“I wandered alone as a cloud
That floats high over valleys and hills,
When suddenly I saw a crowd
a multitude of dancing daffodils;
Along the lake, under the trees,
Ten thousand dancing in the breeze. Website design By BotEap.comThe waves by his side danced, but
He overcame the waves sparkling in jubilation: —
A poet could not stop being gay
In such a laughing company:
I looked, and I looked, but I didn’t think
What wealth the spectacle had brought me: Website design By BotEap.comBecause often when I lie on my sofa
In the vacant or pensive mood,
They flash in that inner eye
which is the joy of loneliness,
And then my heart fills with pleasure,
And dance with the daffodils. “ Website design By BotEap.comOther poets, and those of hopeful poetic tendencies, have also featured daffodils with their efforts. Website design By BotEap.comAmy Lowell (died 1925) was not as elegant and stylish as daffodils prefer; Her words were very loaded in the Victorian style. Website design By BotEap.comTo an early daffodil. . . Website design By BotEap.com“Yellow trumpeter from Laggard Spring though!
You herald of the myriad flowers of the rich Summer. . . “ Website design By BotEap.comIt’s not his favorite poem. . . but they honor the
despite the poet She meant well. Website design By BotEap.comThey prefer Robert Herrick (d. 1674) to Daffodils Website design By BotEap.com“Beautiful daffodils, we cry to see
You rush to leave so soon. . . “ Website design By BotEap.comHerrick can make them maudlin and sentimental. Dead so soon, they prefer that such notions, and obsequies, be private. Always close to the surface of her beauty is the reality of death and oblivion too soon. Website design By BotEap.com“In the Time of Daffodils” by EE Cummings (d. 1962) is a poem of statement and purpose. He keeps them focused: Website design By BotEap.com“in time of daffodils (who knows
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why, remember how” Website design By BotEap.comThey appreciate their history and all the poets who expand and polish it. Website design By BotEap.comHowever, on any given day of their too-short annual stay, they like this better; Song “April Showers” by Al Jolson (1921). Website design By BotEap.com“And where you see clouds over the hills, you will soon see multitudes of daffodils.” Website design By BotEap.comAnd always, Website design By BotEap.com“and the daffodils looked beautiful today
It looked lovely. (From The Cranberries’ “Daffodil Lament,” 2002.) Website design By BotEap.comIn fact they do.