The reason why I'm waxing lyrical over this flower is because, aside of a few sad clumps of candy tuft and a solitary Arum Lily, our garden is pretty much bare of flowers. Spring, this year, seems to be in a "to be or not to be" mode! Cloudy one day, sunny the next... At this rate, how am I to go about planting my favourite flowers?
And, no, I refuse to quote Wordsworth or Herrick when the word "daffodils" is mentioned. That's just too predictable!
Here, instead, are two old favourites:
One is from Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale"
Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty.
The other's by Philip Larkin. When asked if he ever thought about becoming poet laureate, he said "Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth"!
The other's by Philip Larkin. When asked if he ever thought about becoming poet laureate, he said "Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth"!
This flower is named after Narcissus. Legend has it that for the Greeks Narcissus stood for vanity and insensitivity. He died, it seems, because he could only love his image at the expense of himself.
To balance to poetic with the prosaic, daffodils or narcissi belong to:
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Genus: Narcissus
My favourite's the golden yellow variety.
Today's post is respectfully dedicated to Ms. S. Chandra, my Botany teacher in Std. VI, Sophia School, Kota.
Bless you, Miss, wherever you are.
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2 comments:
Ok so I'll go and take some photos of Narcissai for you.
I link pink ones.
Cyber
Thank you, Cyber. Would love to see pink ones. WE only get white, cream and yellow ones in India.
Plus, pink's my favourite colour!
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