Daffodil Traditions

Some day it will stop raining.  Today is not the day.  So, to perk myself up, I've got daffodils.

From Wordsworth we have the lovely poem 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud' and its daffodils.  I have sprinkled them through the beds, purposefully forgetting where.  They are thriving in the sunniest bed, of course and I manage to have about six weeks of daffodils.  The ones near the driveway came with the house and it is probably past time to dig them up and split them.  Daffodil bulbs will multiply and form almost a volleyball wad of tubers over time.  The critters don't eat them, so they really are an easy bulb.

One of my favorite traditions is visiting Daffodil Glade at The Morton Arboretum.  The project was started in early 30s when Joy Morton was still alive.  There are thousands and thousands and thousands of daffodils now.  The Arb has continued the tradition in recent years and now daffs are sprinkled in spots along the East Side and at the entrance.  Families visit every year and take pictures among the blossoms. 

The Prince family tradition has been to give the first daffodils seen in the grocery stores to my mother-in-law as it is one of her favorite flowers.  This used to be more of a competition before markets started selling imported Irish daffs.  So far, my father-in-law usually wins.