Devoted to Daffodils
One of my favorite things about spring is driving on the freeway and seeing clumps of daffodils sprouting up along the side of the road. How do they get there? I imagine people throwing bulbs on the window at 65 miles per hour in the fall and hoping something sticks? But that doesn’t seem right. My friend’s mother once said that her mom would drop daffodil bulbs on their walks around their property and watch them pop up in random places over the years. I love that image. Daffodils seem to pop up and thrive in the strangest of places and I’m eternally grateful for that.
I found out I was pregnant with my first son in late February. I remember seeings the first little daffodil stems poking through the slushy soil on that sunny morning and feeling so full of hope, new beginnings, new life. It was the first spring in our home, so the daffodils (and baby!) came as a welcomed surprise. I’ve since added close to 100 new bulbs to our property. I love planting them in the fall, knowing that these little treasures will be waiting for me come March, when (let’s face it) we need it the most. Daffodils are great like that. Just when we think winter will never end, they force their way through the frozen earth and greet us with their yellow sweetness - the first sign of spring. Another reason to love our trumpeted friends? They multiply like crazy. I’m amazed at how one bulbs splits over and over through the years - spreading sunshine all over the yard.
Can I be honest? I wasn’t always this daffodil-obsessed. In fact, the traditional daffodils are okayyyyy but once I started buying different varieties of these narcissus wonders, that’s when I really fell in love. My personal favorite? The white ones with bright orange centers - the color of GOOD free range, organic, cage free, everything free eggs - lol. Lastly, these guys are deer resistant. Which means I don’t have to guard them with my life, the way I do with everything else I grow… thank goodness!
So, next time you feel yourself in a mid-spring-will-it-ever-warm-up-slump- I encourage you to look for the daffodils. Sunny days are coming! … I think ;)
