1st Sunday Devotional – The Common Daisy

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 14 Comments

Do you like seeing daisies? Usually by June, the fields where I walk the dogs have plenty of daisies to enjoy. There is just something so cheerful about a daisy bloom, especially when it just pops up out of the green grasses to add color and a sunny feel to the field.

The common name daisy originates from the Old English phrase “Daes eage,” which translates to “day’s eye.” This name reflects how these flowers close their petals in the evening and reopen them come morning, making daisies some of the first eyes to open to the morning sun each day.

The information I found online says the first daisies were found in Europe, but have spread to every continent except for Antarctica. Daisies have a way of adapting to wherever they are located. They can handle wet or dry conditions, sun or shade, flat fields or steep mountains. What a sturdy, pleasant flower. Bees like their nice flat blooms that give them a great landing place to collect pollen. Then the daisy center is made up of many little flowers that make a cluster that lets the bees collect plenty of food in one landing. Daisies love bees too. The bees pollinate them to keep daisies blooming season after season.

You don’t see many daisy flowers in a pasture field. Cows must like the blooms. You can often see plenty of them across the hayfields. Cows probably like their hay flavored with daisies. I was surprised to read that we can eat daisies too. They are said to be a great source of vitamin C. Also, daisies have some medicinal properties and have been used to slow bleeding, relieve indigestion, and soothe coughs.

As a flower, daisies symbolize innocence, purity, loyalty, patience, and simplicity. The classic white daisy is associated with humility.

Now you might know some things about daisies you didn’t know even as you are wondering why I’m using this for my 1st Sunday Devotional. I love walking through meadows of daisies and how they brighten our world. Just seeing a daisy can bring on smiles. Daisies grow just as the Lord intended them too. The blooms can bring some special cheer to me when I see that first happy bloom in the spring.

Daisies seem to reach for the sun and are actually related to sunflowers. We can take a lesson from the hardy little daisy and grow where we are planted and always present a cheerful face to the world as we generously share our blessings.

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. …Song of Solomon 2:12 (NKJ)

Comments 14

  1. Hi Ann. I seem to reply late on your emails but daisies but thank you . The are one of my favorite flowers also and have in around my patio . Found deer love them also.No. No!! Daisies mean Joy. Acts 9 Dorcas spread love and joy to those around her.

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      Lovely thoughts, Carol, and there is no time limit on reading these posts. We had so many daisies this year in our fields that the deer couldn’t eat them all and even in the pastures, the cows didn’t get them all tasted.

      I love the story of Dorcas. Oh, to be a person to spread joy and encouragement to others.

  2. My husband serenaded me with ,”A Daisy a Day” in our youth. He still picks flowers as they come and brings a few blossoms in for me to enjoy.

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      That’s so sweet, Cindy. I like those hayfield flowers brought in to make a bright bouquet. When I think about a song with Daisy in it, I think of “Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I’m half crazy all for the love of you.” I think that’s from “A Bicycle Built for Two.”

  3. I like daisies but haven’t had much luck growing them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a whole field of them.

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      The daisies in the hayfield are really blooming great this year, Pam. Nature grows them and Mother Nature gave them plenty of water this spring. I’ve never tried to grow ox-eye daisies in my flowerbeds. They are for the field. I have tried Shasta daisies and never have much luck with them.

  4. I enjoyed reading your post about daisies today. I have a clump of daisies that come back every year that I raised from seed a good many years ago. I don’t know how they survived. I planted them in a place that hardly anything else will grow. I noticed they have formed a a bud and will be opening soon, can’t wait to see them.

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      I guess it’s just like my research showed, Connie. Daisies can thrive wherever they are planted. At least some of the time. I love those flowers that come up every year without having to be replanted. My kind of flowers.

  5. Daisies always seem happy to me. The daisy is my oldest daughter’s favorite flower. Here’s a funny story about daisies. Years ago when I worked in an office, there was a field of daisies nearby. We were all admiring them from our window when I got the bright idea to go pick a bouquet for the office. Well after awhile, the office started smelling of dog poop. Who’d haver thought daisies would stink? Needless to say, we threw them back out into the field.

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      I have never noticed daisies having a smell at all, Lee. I’m going to have to go sniffing them now. Maybe the dogs had been around your daisies. 🙂

      Happy is a good word to describe daisies. And sunflowers.

  6. Wonderful. I enjoyed reading all about the daisy. Yes, it does make me smile. We need to be like that tiny flower to make people smile when they see us with our love for Jesus shining forth.

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  7. Daisies are my favorite flower. They always have been. I’d rather have daisies than any other flower.

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      Once when I asked for a favorite flower after sending out a newsletter back after my book When the Meadow Blooms was released, daisies were a popular pick as favorite, Ann. And I can see why. Love the sturdy little happy flower.

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