Dear Reader:

“Daffodils” by William Wordworth is one of the earliest poems I remember hearing in elementary school. Every year in early March the teacher would read the poem and we children got to stand by our desks and sway like daffodils…it was the annual spring sway… to the delight of grade students everywhere.

We children loved William Wordsworth forever for that one poem that allowed us, annually, to stand and actually get to move as the poem was read. Antsy children (me included) felt much appreciation to this poet for this memorable spring ritual.

Ireland gets to take a lot of credit for their intense love of daffodils…in March… mountains,valleys. and river embankments are covered in them…as far as the naked eye can see.

We all know the Irish love March for St. Patrick’s Day… bringing all the luck of the Irish…but did you know daffodils are right up there with shamrocks when it comes to bringing luck?

If you want a real Irish garden…you must fill it with as much green as possible and always have an Irish rose compass in it…a famous tradition for the Irish.

The Irish have five traditional compass directions: North, South, West, East…and Here. Here is an old expression the Irish immigrants used, to mean wherever they live in the world, the mother country is with them in their hearts. Here is wherever the spirit lives, and its days can be brightened with a lush, green garden evocative of the Emerald Isle itself.

Here are  7 trivia facts and Irish folklore about daffodils.

• Plant lore tells us that daffodils bring good fortune to the person who avoids trampling on them, so watch where you step!
• The daffodil is a symbol of rebirth – a sign of the new beginnings that come with spring. Daffodils are often found connected with Easter and Easter religious services because of their new birth significance.
• Daffodils are the birthday flower of  March, the same month as the spring equinox that heralds the beginning of a new season
• In Wales finding the first daffodil of spring is expected to bring more gold than silver to your life and home during the following 12 months.  
• The daffodil is associated with Lent, the 40 days of fasting and penitence before Easter Sunday in most Christian churches and is known as the “Lenten Lily” in England. 
• There is a legend that the daffodil first appeared on the night of The Last Supper in the Garden of Gethsemane to comfort Jesus in his hour of sorrow.
• Roman soldiers would carry several Daffodil bulbs with them and if mortally wounded, they’d chow down on the bulbs.  The bulb would work its narcotic wonder and the soldier would painlessly die. (Daffodils are part of the Narcissus family from where we get the word Narcotics.)

Botanists say it is the cool, wet springs of Ireland that produce such an abundance of spectacular daffodils…if that is the case, we low- landers should have daffodils popping out of every yard, garden, hedge, lawn, this year in Summerville.

(If this rain continues much longer we are going to need to contract with Noah to start another ark…part 2- Summerville!)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• I couldn’t possibly end this post without including the poem “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth. (Don’t forget to sway reading it!)

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 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.

A shout-out to Gin-g for the container of daffodils given me Wednesday evening…I immediately transferred them to a larger pot, added potting soil and water and placed it on the back deck table …spring is coming! (Title Photo)

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