Saturday, February 14, 2009

February Daffodils

 

 

 
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These three pictures are a testament to the longevity of daffodils. These daffodils are in the what used to be a yard of a no longer existent house.The house has been pushed over and burned, not even leaving any scorched earth. The rain has taken even that away.I remember nosing around this old place when I was a teen and younger. Deserted houses intrigued me even then. They have a story that is just waiting to play out for the one who looks long and carefully enough.
There used to be 3 old houses in this area but they are all gone to be replaced by a pine plantation. I feel a little sad about it, but not because the owners decided to try to make some money off the land. I am sad because I waited so long to come back to this spot that I cannot recognize the old landmarks. Had it not been for the daffodils, I would have missed it completely.
There were 3 different types of daffodils. The last picture is the one I believe is commonly referred to as jonquils. They have a wonderful fragrance that makes me happy just to smell it. I picked a bunch for my table and enjoyed their fragrance for hours. I do not know if the fragrance gradually dissipated or if I got olfactory fatigue. At any rate I enjoyed the fragrance as long as I could. The flowers are still beautiful in a vase for several days.
These bulbs have been happily blooming in this location for more than 100 years. Nobody has lived in the house for more than 60 years, so I guess this is the definition of carefree plants.

1 comment:

  1. Greetings from Northeast Alabama. It's always nice to find other Alabamians on blogger. Daffodils from old homesteads are always an awesome sight to me.It always amazes me that if they are planted in the right place they will usually outlive the gardener that planted them.

    I have some daffodils similar to the first picture in my yard. They came with the house and have been here for at least 25 years. They are a small cupped type but I don't know the variety.

    The second picture looks like a "pseudo narcissus" also known as a Welsh daffodil or Lent Lily.My grandmother called them Easter lilies. I don't understand the pseudo prefix. It's definitely a real narcissus.

    The third is an old Southern variety called Campernelle or Campernelli. There is some argument over whether it's a jonquil or if it belongs in a class of its own. Regardless, it's beautiful and will probably bloom in that spot for another hundred years if nobody digs the bulbs up.

    Thanks so much for sharing these great photos!
    Tyla Mac
    Ashville,AL

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