We All Need Cheering Up
A
Elizabeth A. Amin MD
s I write this on February 26, the sun
is the effect one seeks, one looks for naturalizing varieties that are
is shining brilliantly and warming the
planted only once in a lifetime. I have never been able to find out
air closest to the window where I am
exactly what makes a naturalizer. They tend to be the older classic
seated. The outside air remains cold. I wonder
all yellow or yellow/orange varieties with smaller flowers rather
how long it will be before the first of many dafthan those with large elaborately frilled and colored trumpets and
fodils raises her trumpet to the sky. Over the
petals. There is evidence that well-naturalized varieties can remain
years I have planted hundreds on our property
healthy and prolific over fifty years or so. My guess is that they are
- and elsewhere. Those that will be the first to
in loamy soil which allows the new bulbs to push apart somewhat
bloom are planted on a
as they develop annually, rather than being
45° southwest facing slope behind the house. For oft, when on my couch I lie
constricted in their spread by heavy clay or
The slope is covered annually by a fresh layer In vacant or in pensive mood,
impacted garden soil.
of leaf mulch. That and relatively awkward They flash upon that inward eye
Once daffodils have finished blooming the
access make early signs of their progress dif- Which is the bliss of solitude;
flowers can be removed if they appear unAnd then my heart with pleasure fills
ficult to find.
sightly. It is essential, however, that the leaves
And dances with the Daffodils.
Much farther down from the house and in a
remain until they disappear naturally. They
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
relatively damp location close to the creek, the
provide the energy source for the following
William Wordsworth
daffodil leaves were projecting 2 to 3 inches
year’s bulbs. Traditionalists fold clumps of
Poems in Two Volumes (1807)
already when I checked on them during our
leaves neatly, all to the same height and tie
warm week earlier this month. I am more than usually anxious to
them in the middle. I do this only for those daffodils that are visible
see the flowers emerge because this year there have been no blooms
to neighbors and passing motorists. All others lie on the ground
on the winter flowering jasmine - whose sprawling, uncontrollable
eventually becoming obscured by other emerging spring growth.
branches usually erupt in tiny yellow flowers from mid-December
Clumping and tying may have the advantage of protecting the leaves
through mid-March. This winter has apparently been too cold for
from late frost and the scurrying feet of small garden animals. It is
them.
not essential to the future well-being of the flowers.
Daffodils, Jonquils, Narcissus(i), call them what you will, speak of
spring and resurgence and they seldom disappoint. There are dozens
of species, hybrids, varieties and forms and once planted they are
almost self sustaining, requiring only a minimum of assistance if
they cease to flourish. For example, emerging daffodils need sunlight,
preferably six hours a day, in order to develop a flower bud. So those
clumps of gorgeous, glossy, flowerless, green leaves need to be dug
up and moved to a sun-filled location if they are to bloom in the
future. The other indication for digging up daffodils is when the
clumps become very large and the proportion of flower buds ve