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| Credit: www.flickr.com/photos/roadhunter/5527224 |
“When daffodils begin to peer, -
With heigh! The doxy over the dale, -
Why, then comes the sweet o’ the year”
- The Winter’s Tale, Act IV, Scene 2
“O Proserpina,
For the flowers now that, frighted, thou lett’st fall
From Dis’s wagon: Daffodils
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty."
- The Winter’s Tale, Act IV, Scene 3
Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus)
The Daffodil which Shakespeare refers to is the Wild Daffodil. The herbalist John Gerard, a contemporary of Shakespeare, described twenty four different species of Daffodil “all and every one of them in great abundance in our London gardens.”
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| Asphodel, often mistaken for the Daffodil |
Its botanical name comes from the Greek myth of Narcissus who spurned the affections of the wood nymph Echo and fell in love with his own reflection. For this reason it has often been used to represent selfishness and unrequited love. Its English name is thought to be a corruption of the word Affodyl, another name for the Asphodel which the Daffodil is often confused with. Shakespeare also seems to confuse both flowers when in The Winter’s Tale Perdita refers to the myth of Proserpina, (Persephone in Greek myth), who whilst picking flowers was kidnapped by Pluto and taken to the Underworld. In the Greek myth it was the Asphodel she was picking and not the Daffodil.
Other names for the Daffodil include Daffadown Dilly, Daffodilly and Jonquil. It is also sometimes referred to as the Lent Lily because it is in bloom at the beginning of Lent; the Daffodil is also the national flower of Wales.
Type: Annual or Perennial
Height: 6” to 20”
When to Plant: Early autumn for blooms in early spring
Flowers: February to May