Fun Historical Daffodil Facts

Top 10. Feb 11, 1999 5:38 PM

» Jojo - Narcissistic

Of course there's the story of Narcissus himself.

Echo was a mountain nymph who fell madly in love with a beautiful young man, Narcissus. Narcissus was a vain youth and cared for nothing but his own beauty. He spent all his time looking at his own reflection in a pool of water and ignored Echo's love until she finally faded away. The gods, angry with Narcissus because of his vanity, changed him into a flower who was destined always to sit by a pool nodding at his own reflection.

So Narcissus was Narcissistic.

Traditionally, the first Sunday in April is known as Daffodil Sunday in England. People would pick daffodils from their homes and surrounding feilds to take to the hospitals in London.

-- posted by Jojo

Top 11. Feb 11, 1999 5:44 PM

» Carol Wallace - Well

The name jonquil comes from a Spanish word, junca, which means rushes - because they thought the foliage looked like rushes.So they called it jonquillo.

And the craze for picking daffodils that Jojo mentioned was the cause of the first wildlife protection legislation in England, who feared that all that picking would deplete them.

-- posted by Carol Wallace

Top 12. Feb 12, 1999 4:09 AM

» Daffyclay - Jonquilla

Carol,

Have you noticed that N. jonquilla foliage comes out of the ground sort of "spikie", and looks like a round blade of grass. Maybe, it does look a little like rushes.

-- posted by Daffyclay

Top 13. Feb 12, 1999 7:08 AM

» Cottage_Garden - "Lily Among the Thorns"

I found this one: the "lily among the thorns" in the Old Testament's Song of Songs is N. tazetta which grows wild along with the wild thorns in the Holy Land. (From "The Heirloom Garden" by Jo Ann Gardner.)

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

Top 14. Feb 12, 1999 7:21 AM

» Cottage_Garden - Spanish, French or Latin?

I've found a reference indicating the name jonquil came from corrupted French, from juncifolius or "rush-leaf". This author is a real nit-picker because he also doesn't believe Dafadowndilly to be a playful corruption of daffodil, but rather a corruption of "Saffron Lily" and for this he bases his opinion on that of Dr. Prior whom he believes a "very safe authority".

Some of this came from a paper about the common English names of flowers read to the Bath Field Club in 1870, and published in the "transactions" of the Club, and afterwards privately printed -- and later reprinted in the book I have, "Plantlore and Garden Craft of Shakespeare" by Henry N. Ellacombe. I have the 1896 (third) edition to which was added fabulous illustrations. He was Vicar of Bitten in Gloustershire at the time.

I haven't figured out who Dr. Prior was.

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

Top 15. Feb 12, 1999 7:28 AM

» Daffyclay - Daffadowndilly

Barbara,

Regardless if Dr. Prior believes it is a corruption of daffodil, back in his age, it is a corruption of our time. I've heard daffadowndilly more than once by playful daffodil folks. However, I liked the comment as it adds more lure to the subject of daffodils.

-- posted by Daffyclay

Top 16. Feb 12, 1999 7:32 AM

» Daffyclay - Lilly among the thorns

Barbara,

That's another fact that I knew about, but when putting this information forward, I let is slip past me. Thank's for reminding me. In my King James version of the Bible, it the Song of Psalms, but the daffodil still grows wild among the thorns.

-- posted by Daffyclay

Top 17. Feb 12, 1999 10:06 PM

» Marge_Talt - not historical, just garden

Well, Clay, I don't have any neat historical references, but it is a fact that wildlife (including our beloved bambi) will not eat any members of the Narcissus family and I have proven to myself that if you plant lilies in a circle of daffodils, the bulb eating critters will leave the lily bulbs alone.

-- posted by Marge_Talt

Top 18. Feb 14, 1999 7:34 AM

» Daffyclay - Bambi and Daffy

Marge,

It's of interest that you say that you can surround things with daffodils and protect them.

I am reluctant to give people that advise because of my own experience. I have tried to raise vegetables, tomatoes, and squash, as well as irises contained within my show beds. What I got was trampled show daffodils as "bambi" and his whole tribe rushed through my daffodils to get at the tasty morsels.

I've heard of it from others that they also protect plants by surrounding them with daffodils. I don't know if my deer are too tame or what, then again, remember my statement about the big 10 point buck that goes upon peoples porches to forage on potted yummies a.. a.. a.. I mean plants.

-- posted by Daffyclay