Minnie Aumonier, a sentimental poet from the distant past, once wrote:
Yes, it’s a bit treacly and tooth-achingly sweet, but if you’ve got a big tax bill, too many deadlines and not enough time, aphids on the pansies and illness in the family, or — you know, all of the above, it helps to know there are blue skies and heirloom daffodils blooming in the orchard at Filoli.
Lorene Edwards Forkner is an author, maker, and speaker whose work centers on exploring the wonders of the natural world. She is the author of numerous gardening titles, including the recently released ‘Color In and Out of the Garden.’
Following a stint as owner and operator of a small specialty nursery, Lorene dabbled in garden design where her primary focus was helping other passionate gardeners organize and tame their growing plant collections. She was the first woman to edit Pacific Horticulture, a quarterly magazine published by Pacific Horticulture, a not-for-profit organization focused on West Coast gardens. These days, her stories regularly appear in the GROW column in The Seattle Times where she explores the gardens and gardeners of the Pacific Northwest.
Lorene believes that the best gardening lessons — nurturing and connection — are essential to tending an equitable and sustainable society. Lorene lives in an old house near the beach where she tends a tiny plot filled with seasonal pleasures, delicious flavors, and creative experimentation. Contact Lorene via email: Lorene at handmadegarden.com.
Daffodils are not only a gift from Spring, they are a symbol of persistence. Out in the country they bloom along roads where houses are long gone . They bloom on the wood edges planted by someone who loved them, also long gone. The town of Dunbarton, New Hampshire, not far from me has planted thousands, and off Rt 13 on Gorham Pond Rd, there are the fields of Dunn Cottage, with daffodils beyond counting. People rejoice when their leaves appear. They are one of the most loved of all flowers.
Persistence looks good on a plant and a gardener!
Loved your post . . . both, for its sentiment and the word “treacly”! I betcha’ you haven’t written that word for years. (If you have, you might consider changing up your themes now and again) I haven’t read “treacly” for at least a decade.
I shall now absquatulate.
Ha! “Treacly” is a probably a word best read – Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe? I had to looks up “absquatulate” — love it, but have no idea how to pronounce it!
What a small world! I immediately recognized your first photo, because I was at Filoli yesterday and snapped a pic of a nearly identical view. I came for the tulips, but it’s the daffodils that really wowed me this time.
That entire place is a treasure, but I especially enjoy the orchard because of the many varieties of daffodil that have been there for decades. I’d love to know more about how they encouraged them to naturalize, and how much “editing” they do to create drifts of specific varieties, etc.
that’s amazing — oh that everyone could stroll that orchard!!! https://pacifichorticulture.org/articles/filolis-daffodil-collection/ this link take you to an article about the Filoli daffodils from the archives of Pacific Horticulture magazine
So many are daffodil fans! I, alas, am not. However, I have planted hundreds of them as the pesky squirrels kept eating all the tulip bulbs I’d plant. The daffs are perky and pretty and sturdy and best of all.. the squirrels don’t like the taste!
Eowana, I felt the same way for years. The ripening foliage is a real daffodil buzz kill, but somehow beautiful fragrant bouquets make up for the fact — as does hiding the aging foliage among emerging perennials. You might enjoy growing some of the smaller varieties – I fell head over heels for hoop petticoat species.
I surround tulips with many daffodils. Sometimes that works. I have many types that bloom for a few months. Wonderful.
Wow Louise, does your daffodil defense stave off the squirrels?
The east coast has some beautiful daffodil fields as well. The John Quincy Adams House in Quincy has a field of them which bloom in April. There is also a cemetery up in coastal Maine which has a whole section full of daffodils.
Amazing resilience!
Perhaps it’s overly sweet, but the garden does satisfy when the world seems to have gone mad. I’m in the US, So you can just imagine… I use the peace of garden often to soothe my jangled nerves.
I couldn’t agree more!
I’m sorry to hear of your troubles!!
life get’s messy, and then things improve, and then it gets messy again. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I love this quote, Lorene, and didn’t find it “treacly” in the least. As to tulips, “Menton,” a gorgeous salmon pink tulip, is NOT tasty in the least to squirrels! And, it comes back, if you are lucky, for a couple of years. I have had a squirrel move a few of the bulbs, for some unknown reason, but don’t think any have been eaten. I have a several of them coming up in my herb/tomato garden that I did not plant there!
I am very impressed that you’ve taught your squirrels to plant for you! Menton is gorgeous~