Simply unbelievable
Daffodils at Keukenof, Netherlands, March 2007
“…if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy…Look at the flowers – for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.” — Osho
I disagree sharply with many of the teachings attributed to Osho, but I have to agree with him about the flowers. The daffodil, my favorite flower, seems particularly joyful to me. Perhaps it’s just that the blooms arrive very early, when we need them most. In less than a month, we’ll be seeing the first of them in bloom – something to look forward to amid the chilly gloom of a February day!
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- Tagged: blooms, daffodils, flowers, gardens, joy, springtime
Defeat Despair 
I have Buttercups on my table right now!!! Hope of Spring to come!
(Are Daffodils and Buttercups the same, or just in the same family?)
Carla, I think they’re the same, or maybe Buttercups are a sub-group. I always get confused since there are many names/types – jonquils, narcissus, etc. But whatever they are called, I love them! Are yours already in bloom?
Yes, that’s what I meant when I said I have them on my table right now. They are out of view to be enjoyed very much outside so when they come up I pick a bouquet and bring them inside! Love it!!!!
I agree that it’s nice to have some indoors to enjoy every time I come into the kitchen (or wherever). I used to always pick them until someone (a gardener I think) told me to leave them unpicked, even after they wither, to allow them to “naturalize” and spread. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I think I later read it someplace else. I think mine are now established enough that I could get away with cutting a few for an indoor bouquet. Also, some of mine get so “top heavy” that they have to be staked or propped up in some way, and sometimes if I can’t keep them from bending under their own weight, I’ll cut them and put them in a bud vase.
I have daffodils on my kitchen table as I write ~ my local grocery store had a bunch so I bought them. There’s nothing like a sunny daff to chase the winter blues away! Who knows where they came from though b/c here they don’t bloom until March!
Mine won’t bloom until March, either. But the green shoots are already poking up through the soil! Each year they are one of the very first signs that spring is on the way. I’m always cheered and a bit surprised to see them — time passes so quickly, whether we are having fun or not!
Julia, the little yellow flowers are beautiful by any name, aren’t they? As they are starting to appear in various places, it’s almost like they are anxious to be admired,too! Hope Jeff is finding renewed strength with every day. Sheila
Thanks, Sheila. I do think there is something very winsome about daffodils, and other flowers…almost as if they have personalities; I guess that’s why today’s quote appealed to me. Jeff seems to be doing pretty well this week, for which we are grateful.
Daffodil flower is like a fairy lady to me! 🙂
Sydney, I agree! Absolutely exquisite. Thanks for your comment and for visiting here!
For earlier daffodils you need to plant February Gold; I have had blossoms on Ground Hog Day in mild winters. I don’t know about them being happy but they certainly make me happy. I have never heard that you should not pick them but you need to leave the green until it starts to fade. That builds the bulbs and they spread from the bulbs. Some daffodils are better than others at naturalizing. I have a hard time picking flowers to bring into the house because they last so much longer on the plant.
Bobby, thanks for that info. I have never heard of February Gold but I may need to get some. I am learning a lot about gardening here on this blog!
We have quite a few shoots up here around 3-4 inches off the ground. Hopefully the winter Daphne will also be in bloom-” Daphne odora”- my personal favorite winter plant. the Sweet box is still blooming and the scent is almost overpowering- “Sarcacoca humilis hookeriana.” Or something like that
Hi Mike, I had never heard of either of these plants until I read your post, but I looked them up. I don’t know of many winter blooming plants, so I was happy to read about the Daphne; maybe we should get some. It looks like they are cold hardy enough for our area. The Sweet Box flowers remind me of the blooms we get on our Ligustrum, which are also very heavily scented. I love the smell but I’m told many people don’t like it. In the summer when they are in full bloom, the scent hits you as soon as you walk out our back door onto the deck.
Love flowers. Unfortunately I am allergic to most scents so I have to admire them from afar. I completely agree that flowers make us happy. My favorite are lilies & birds of paradise.
Barb, Bird of Paradise is one of Jeff’s favorite flowers too. We were able to enjoy a lot of them while we lived in Hawaii. Incidentally I just now went back to your blog and there were a lot of posts I had missed. I guess I checked my reader on all the wrong days. Keep up the good work! It’s nice to hear from you.
Sorry it’s chilly in your neck of the woods. We’re enjoying a mild day with heavy winds? Weird. I loved the quote and your photo too, I’d love to visit there someday especially for the flowers.
Keukenhof is definitely worth the trip. Try to go in the springtime, when all the tulips and bulb flowers are blooming most profusely. But truthfully, I’m not sure that Keukenhof is any better than some of the fabulous gardens of Canada. I’m glad you are having a mild day. I think of it as being very cold where you live, but maybe that’s just a misconception on my part.
You’re so right Julia, Ottawa has an amazing tulip festival. Thanks you for the hi-5!
When I say mild, it might not be what you think of as mild. We were at -5C today or 23 F. So, you might be frozen 😀
Indeed, 23 is FREEZING to me, especially if there’s wind! I am a total wimp when it comes to the cold. I guess growing up in Atlanta will do that to a person.
Guess what? I just Googled Atlanta GA current weather and it’s +4 C……and we’ll be +4 C Friday…but that’s the daytime high. Once you’re sitting beside the fireplace with a little TV blanket and warm kitty, you might not notice…ha
How funny that two places so afar apart, longitude-wise, are sharing the same temperature today! Yes, Atlanta does get cold at times — we even had a few snowfalls or ice storms when I was growing up — but the winters are relatively short, and the springtime and autumn are long and gloriously beautiful, so overall I got terribly spoiled (and living for so many years in California, Texas and Hawaii only made it worse). We earned our cold-weather stripes during the four years we spent in Dayton, Ohio, where we learned how not to freak out about driving in rough weather, but I was always happy to get back to warm, sunny days!
You must be the worlds best ‘packer’ Julia. That’s a lot of relocating. Was it for work? I couldn’t imagine leaving Hawaii, LOL How nice to be able to live in so many places though.
I’ve never been to Ohio, but I do imagine you got a good taste of winter while there….Brrrr.
Yes, we have relocated quite a bit, because Jeff’s in the Air Force. It’s been difficult in many ways, but also very rewarding. We’ve lived in ten different homes since we married and it feels a bit like having lived ten different lives! But we have friends all over with whom we’ve stayed in touch, and have certainly had some wonderful experiences. And yes, I’m very good at packing, everything from small packages to mail, to suitcases, to moving boxes!
Julia…a funny little story to make you smile. Years ago, when I lived in Indiana, my husband and I planted bulbs for the first time. The next morning to my dismay, a raccoon (we think) dug them all up!!! Can you imagine? I was horrified! Needless to say, it was our last bulb planting LOL! BTW…a side note…won’t it be great someday not to have troubles anymore. Love the verse you have posted at the top of this blog.
What a disappointment! What kind of bulbs were they? Did the critter also EAT the bulbs, or was it just vandalism :-)? I planted a whole bunch of tulips when we first moved to Virginia. Wore my hands out with that bulb planter, and not a single leaf or bloom showed up in the springtime. My neighbors told me that voles ate up all the tulip bulbs (from underground) and they are almost impossible to grow unless you can barricade them somehow. So that will be my last planting of tulips for awhile. I’ve even heard tales of animals getting them out of containers. But they leave the daffodils alone, for which I’m grateful. YES I look forward to an existence that is free from cares! That verse is one of my favorites, and is pretty much the foundation for this blog.
My favorite flower is whatever is blooming. The crocus and daffodils started blooming last week and the daffodils multiply every year. A hint for the maurading raccoons, possums and armadillo. Place the bulbs and cover the bed with chicken wire and a few large rocks to hold it down. They’ll lose interest once your flower bed is established, and remove the chicken wire around the first of February. I dearly love my passed down bearded iris. Such a delicate fragrance. Tuberose, tea olive, peony, naked ladies, spider lilies, day lilies, gardenia. I love them all!
Hi Beth, thanks for the hints and reminders of so many beautiful flowers. The bad thing about voles is they are so tiny they can get through almost any barriers we set up, but the chicken wire might be helpful to keep away larger animals. We even have deer eating some of our stuff; I planted a blueberry bush a few years ago that was doing great but the deer must have liked it better than we did; it was too high off the ground to have been a smaller animal who ate it up. I have a hard time with getting my peony blooms to stand up – I have staked them, but even that doesn’t always work, they are so heavy in full bloom — and we have had no luck at all with our tea olives; one dead and two barely alive after several years. Ditto gardenias. However, our azaleas, oleanders, phlox, vincas and camellias are thriving — and the wiegela would pretty much take over if I didn’t hack away at it regularly. Soon our bleeding hearts will pop up out of nowhere, growing large seemingly overnight. I feel as if you and I have just taken a mini-stroll through a garden here!
At first, I thought your photo was a painting. Wow!
Yes, I am so glad my friend Amy made it possible for me to visit Keukenhof in the springtime. It’s unbelievably beautiful.