Yellow Blooms

It’s the second week of blogging. I’ve managed to follow the written instructions my eldest daughter wrote down for me, so here goes! So far so good. Thank you for joining me. I’m glad you’re here.

“As the daffodils sway in the breeze, they tell the tale of a world waking up to the magic of fresh beginnings.” (Emily Bronte)

This past week, I’ve been feeling very literary and extremely happy. The sight of bright yellow blooms are everywhere, from the top right hand corner of the main border in the garden and along the driveway, to gracing the field and paddocks of neighbouring farms. Delightful daffodils in their full seasonal glory! They brighten up after a gloomy Antipodean winter, and, you can’t help but smile when you see these garden treasures as the season changes. They just simply bring you sunshine.

We’ve been living in rural Waikato for just over two years now. Life is slow and steady. We have more appreciation for the landscape, the changing seasons and the gifts and small joys they bring. I have to say it, but it is a good life.

The Narcissus ‘White Lion’ with their double blooms and divine scent and the timeless classic Trumpet daffodils I planted last May are putting on a show. They come in many wonderful shapes, colours, scents and varieties from the classic Trumpet to the delicate multi-headed forms, and I’m sure there’s bound to be a daffodil to suit any garden big or small.

The bulbs actually look like onions, but, oh my, when your head is turned, there’s an explosion of bright colour, and they’re letting us know that Spring is just around the corner. I took a handful of bulbs last year and just threw them over the area of driveway and garden I wanted to see planted. I’m not one for planting in lines or patterns, so scattering the bulbs was naturally the best way to create a glorious natural looking display. They’ve thrived under the trees gracing the driveway, mainly, because the sunlight is able to peep through the branches when the trees have no leaves. For next year, I have my eye on the very popular daffodil Narcissus ‘Red Devon.’ From what I’ve seen and read about ‘Red Devon’ I think it would be a striking addition to the top border, showing off its very pretty deep orange frilly cup and very sunny yellow petals. The Narcissus ‘White Lion’ I planted last year is delightful. It stands out. I love its double blooms, soft white petals and delicate ruffled yellow centre.

Flowering time here in New Zealand is usually in early to late Spring (August to September). With their straight stems, sunny yellows and pops of subtle creams and orange, they grace the tables in the lounge and dining room. These delightful blooms are perfect for cut flowers. With a change of water and a nip at the bottom of the stems every other day, they’ve bloomed for over a week now!

My daffs aren’t anything like Emily Bronte’s or the famous nineteenth century poet William Wordsworth’s, but they are one of the most welcoming signs of Spring. This garden treasure inspired the most famous poem in English literature, a poem I learned as a 10 year old, which I still recite every time I see daffodils. I just can’t help it! It’s no surprise, that as a keen home gardener, Wordsworth, celebrated the beauty of Mother Nature in his writings. After spotting a carpet of daffodils on the shores and banks of Lake Ullswater in the Lake District in 1802, during a walk he took with his sister Dorothy, Wordsworth penned the famous poem ‘I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud.’

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay;

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company;

I gazed-and-gazed but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought.

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant mood or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.