Daffodils

After a winter of searching on Daffseek and trying to find open source photos of Daffodils, everything is finally starting to bloom and is coming up in full.

I'm very pleased that the job decided to include my daffodil sheets.  It took a while to gather some of that information so I'm just glad that we've made this more of an educational display rather than just an astoundingly large number of  bulbs.

At one point I was trying to get a head start on these by taking some photos at the philly flower show. I remember there being a million daffodils on display in previous years and somehow that wasn't the case this year. I wonder if its actually just a process of perception. I hadn't really been aware of the number of cultivars of daffodils before this fall. They're all yellow and white and they've never interested me enough to be able to distinguish between varieties. I can't say that I'm interested still. I put in more research into these flowers in hopes of finding them interesting, and while the mythology and the story of Narcissus is interesting, the flowers themselves are not varied enough to hold my attention.

In any case here are some Daffodils on display from the flower show. Expect many pictures of Daffodils over the next two months.

Tulips Tulips Tulips

Well, I might already be planning next years tulip display, but boy, tulips really do know how to take center stage. I always have a love/hate relationship with tulips. The work to bloom time ratio is definitely favors the work time and unlike other bulbs, there's the annual removal aspect as well. No matter how close you may think you are to having all of the tulip bulbs pulled, there are always a few stragglers. I may complain about the amount of work they need but they really are worthwhile.

As far as posts go. Forgive the lag this month. I've been ripping all of these babies out and putting in stuff for the summer. Our irrigation also decided to start the season off right by blowing a main line and I haven't been able to get parts in. Nothing like hand watering six acres. Needless to say, things have been busy.

Beautiful Spring

I just wanted to share some of the beautiful things around the park over the past week. There's just new amazing stuff in the garden daily.

 Tulip 'Artist' and 'Golden Artist'

 

 Viola

 Wisteria budding out

 Jasminum officinalis 'Fiona Sunrise' leafing out

 Fothergilla major 'Blue Shadow' 

Fritillaria imperialis in bloom

 Big Ups Tulip Blend from Colorblends

 Narcissus 'Baby Boomer'

 Species tulip mix

Tulip 'Miranda'

 Narcissus 'Baby Boomer' and Muscari 

Pulmonaria

Euphorbia polychroma

Narcissus

I'm sure you can tell that this was written for work... just sayin.

Anyone familiar with Greek mythology might recall the story of Narcissus who stumbled upon a pool of water and then became so obsessed with his own reflection that he knelt in front of it until he died. As mythology tells, a flower sprang from this spot which bears the name of Narcissus and botanical Latin has come to recognize. The other derivation is that the plant is named after its narcotic properties literally translating to “I grow numb” in Greek.

The common name Daffodil is derived from a "Affodell", referring to the genus Asphodelus (other beautiful plants connected with sites of death in Greek mythology). The dutch article “de” was added to the name when the bulb was introduced to Northern Europe and  other variants such as "daffadown Dilly", "daffadown dilly", and "daffydowndilly" have appeared since the 16th century. You might also hear it called by the name Jonquil, in the south, as most of the heat tolerant cultivars stem from the species Narcissus jonquilla.  

Daffodil’s are symbolic in many cultures. In the United States they’re a symbol of rebirth and spring. In Germany the Daffodil is connotated with Easter as it is commonly called Osterglocke, or Easter bell. China has a story of a poor man who held a golden cup shaped flower and he received many cups of gold for it. Being able to force a Daffodil to bloom during the Chinese New Year is considered to be a symbol of upcoming wealth. 

New York City has its own Daffodil history. The Daffodil Project was founded in 2001 to memorialize the attacks of September 11th. The Parks Department and NY4P teams up with volunteers every fall to plant daffodils in public spaces to celebrate their blooming as symbols of perseverance and restoration. As of 2008, 1.5 million bulbs had been donated to this project after Hans van Waardenburg (B&K Bulbs) made his initial donation. The Daffodil Project continues to plant daffodils every autumn with the help of volunteers throughout the five boughs.

Most varieties of Narcissus are very accommodating to novice gardeners. There are over 50 registered species and over 13,000 registered hybrids at the present. If you’re tired of seeing the classic bright yellow, look for more modern hybrids in green, orange, white, and pink. Flowers can be large or small, single to multi-petaled, tall or short, fragrant or unscented. No matter what your tastes are in flowers, there is probably a Narcissus for you. They’ll even come back year after year.

If you find yourself as enamored with Daffodils as Narcissus was with his reflection, be sure to check out the American Daffodil Society, browse through the Daffodil database, or participate in a nearby Daffodil festival.