Spring has sprung early here in Kentucky this year. It probably won’t last until spring is actually supposed to show up, but it has more or less lasted off and on for a couple of weeks. We’ve had temperatures in the seventies several days. That’s enough to get the birds to singing and the flowers to blooming. On the way home from church, I enjoyed seeing all the daffodils along the road. These cheerful yellow flowers are one of the first to let us know spring is here or will be very soon. So far winter hasn’t sneaked back to put a damper on our early spring and it looks as if the next week is going to be fine for the pretty yellow blooms.
These perennials have been popular for decades and possibly for centuries. Daffodils are very easy to grow and take very little work to keep them growing. However, there is some confusion among many of us about whether to call them daffodils or jonquils. One of the internet sites of experts about flowers, they claimed the short answer to this question is that they are almost the same thing. In other words, ALL jonquils are daffodils, but not all daffodils are jonquils. Hmm, that’s clear as mud.
When I was a kid, we called those clumps of flowers along our fence that bloomed in early March jonquils. Those bigger yellow blooms we saw in town yards were daffodils. Turns out, when I did some more investigating online, that we were wrong. Our yellow flowers then and the ones growing out in my field now are daffodils. It seems, according to the flower experts, that jonquils are more like the flowers I always called narcissus. Jonquils have several blooms on each stalk and have a round, hollow leaf and not the flat ones the daffodils have. Also, jonquils have a sweet aroma. My March flowers, er daffodils, do not have a sweet scent. They have flat blade-like leaves and only one bloom per stalk. There are a few other clumps of flowers over in my field that I thought were narcissus, but maybe they are jonquils instead. If I catch them in bloom this spring, I’ll have to give them a sniff. They never have many blooms and always bloom later than the daffodils. So, many times I miss seeing their blooms.
Here is an old picture with my dog, Oscar, sitting among the flowers. If you look beyond him up toward the trees, that’s where a house once sat right in the middle of our farm.As you can see in this old picture someone gave me of two girls who once called this place home, it was a very nice house. I can imagine many happy times for them and their family. Young men may have come to call on them there to encourage them to fall in love, but I don’t know the names of these girls or much about any of the people who once lived in this house. I do know they were well to do and had servants.
Before my time, the abandoned house was torn down for building materials. A new house was built from its parts at a location closer to town. That house unfortunately burned done also before I could have any memory of it. I’ve only heard stories about the people who lived in the fine house and seen some of the things they left behind like the large stone steps these girls are sitting on. We hauled them to our house and they are now a walkway through my back yard. If you search about where the house once stood, you can find a fruit cellar and a cistern. You’ll come across some scattered bricks, quite a few glass and crock shards, and a bottle here and there.
And then there are the flowers. Sometime, well over a hundred years ago, somebody no doubt dug up some bulbs from the yard of another family member or neighbor to plant around this house when it was first built. As the years went by, the bulbs spread all around the house to announce spring each year. These girls might have gone out and picked bouquets to brighten up their tables.
Now, with the house gone and the people who once lived there forgotten, the flowers come up each year the same as always to share their beauty out in the middle of our pasture field. Daffodils are poisonous, so the cows and deer don’t bother them other than stepping on a clump now and again. The flowers have spread away from the house site and across the field. If nobody every plows them under or bulldozes over them, they will be blooming in another hundred years long after I am no longer here to enjoy them.
That’s a fine heritage to leave behind you–flowers that have cheered your day and that will keep on cheering all those who come after you. I love the heritage plants I have in my yard. I did transplant a few of those daffodils that haven’t liked my yard as well as the field. I have a forsythia bush started from one that grew by my grandparents’ porch. I have peonies started from the same yard and from my mother-in-law’s yard, a lilac bush from my brother-in-law’s yard, a butterfly bush from my sister’s yard, and iris from several places. I think flowers are meant to be shared.
Do you have heritage flowers?
Comments 18
I Love the daffodils they are so pretty and when they come out in Ohio we know Spring is right around the corner! Have a Blessed Day!
Author
I love daffodils too, Sarah, and you are absolutely right about them being a sign of spring. Maybe even better than that robin showing up in the yard. 🙂
My mother had daffodils in all yellow and kind of white and yellow. I remember her mentioning jonquils, too, This is a nice memory for me and I can still see them blooming there even though the house was sold to another couple since my parents’ passing. Not sure if the new owners still see these beautiful flowers.
Author
I hope those flowers you mother had are still blooming brightly for whoever might see them at her house, Linda. But sometimes people don’t have the same feeling about those heritage flowers. The people that bought my grandparents’ homeplace mowed down the peonies that had to be over a hundred years old until they no longer come up. I miss seeing those bushes when I pass by that yard now. I guess that’s because I always loved peonies. I did get a start off them before the place was sold.
Love the picture of Oscar!!! And the daffodils! Love blooming flowers and plants. The weather here in S MS has certainly been warmer than usual for this time of year and for a longer time.
Happy Spring,
Karen
Author
We keep having springlike days here, Karen. I keep thinking winter will storm back but so far it’s either been seasonal temps right for almost March or very spring weather. Things are blooming and budding out everywhere. Guess that’s happening a lot of places in the south.
Glad you liked Oscar’s picture. He was the best dog!
I have some daffodils I got from my brothers yard, a forsythia bush, a spirea bush, eastern hemlock trees from my mom’s yard, and day lilies from my uncle’s yard.
Author
My grandparents’ yard had spirea too. I wish I’d gotten a start of that bush too, Connie. It is fun to have flowers that I can look at and remember those who gifted the start of their beauty with me.
By the way, I sent you an email about my new book, In the Shadow of the River. I’m looking for early readers. I know you’ve helped me out before. Want to again? If so, see if you can find that message in your email. Maybe it landed in your Spam folder.
Mama and Daddy always called those flowers jonquils. These are some of my favorite flowers. 🙂
Author
I always called them jonquils too, Melissa, but according to what I found on the internet, I should have been calling them daffodils. But what is that saying – a rose by any other name would be as sweet? Maybe a jonquil by any other name would be just as cheerful.
Unfortunately no. I have planted daffodils, day lilies and calla lilies though and I am sure when I am no longer in this house, others will have “heritage flowers”.
Author
It’s just as much a blessing to be the one who plants those heritage flowers, Pamela. Your plantings will continue to bless people for a long time and no doubt already bless those who get to enjoy their beauty along with you now.
My mother had bearded irises in garden as long as I can remember. When she died and we had to sell her house, I dug up the rhizomes and gave them to all her grandchildren. Some of the grands have moved to different states since then, but mom’s irises go with each one and still bloom majestically in their gardens!
Author
What a beautiful way to remember your mother and for her grandchildren to remember as well. I have flowers like that in my yard that make me think of those who planted them or who gave me a start from a plant maybe started even before their time. So glad your mother’s irises keep on giving the gift of beauty and love.
I love my “heritage” flowers! A few years ago we bought an old farmhouse and renovated it, trying to keep as much of the character as possible. Every Spring, our yard displays daffodils, tulips and “naked ladies” that bring a smile to my face and brighten up the landscape. I always think about the woman who may have planted these for her enjoyment and I thank her for sharing them with me and any others who will follow. I’ve added some of my own and hope they thrive and bless someone who will live here when I’m gone.
Author
You were blessed to get the fruits of another flower lover who decorated your yard, Judi. My sister once had a house like that with abundant flowers that showed back up every spring. Those are definitely the best, but I love having some annual summer flowers too. I’ve heard of the flower call “naked ladies” but I don’t know if I know what they look like. I’m afraid to Google that. No telling what I might have show up. LOL.
A mystery!! I love mysteries!! I don’t have any heritage flowers, but I do have potted flowers. In my apartment complex we are only permitted to have plants “above the ground” not in the ground. It is not like they have any landscaping or lawns, but Uncle Sam runs this place so we have to obey!! LOL!!
Author
I suppose the two young women are something of a mystery, Marjorie. I’ve been trying to come up with a new story idea about a family. Maybe they can be my inspiration and I can have the setting of my story right here in the middle of my farm.
At least you can enjoy those flowers inside.