I wear mine with pride! (Narcissus)

Member Name: kellylouj

Product:	Narcissus
Date:	24/02/08 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Low cost, beautiful scent, variety of colours.

Disadvantages: Cannot be mixed with other fresh cut flowers

For those of you that are Welsh you will be aware that on March 1st St David's day is celebrated and that the Daffodil is known as the national emblem of Wales as well as the leek.

All daffodils are Narcissus, which is their genus name, many people however refer to the large trumpet yellow flowers as per the picture above as daffodils and the smaller headed varieties as narcissi, however any group of flowers that include daffofils or jonquils are in fact known as narcissi.

There are over 25000 varieties in various shades of yellow, orange, white and peach some with stronger fragrances than others.

*~*The Name*~*

The scientific name, Narcissi is said to be derived from the Greek God Narcissus who fell into a pool and drowned whilst admiring his own reflection and the daffodil or Narcissi was the flower to spring from where he fell.

*~*How to recognise the flower*~*

All narcissus species can be identified by the trumpet to the centre surrounded by a ring of 6 floral leaves referred to as the perianth.
The traditional daffodil is yellow in colour but as mentioned above there are several varieties and mixes of colours.

*~*How is it linked to Wales?*~*

The daffodil is the national flower of Wales and the species Narcissus obvallaris grows only in an area surrounding Tenby in Wales and although we are unsure of its origins it is said that it was brought to Wales by the Phoenicians or medieval monks.
It is worn on March 1st in celebration of St David's day.

The flowers are available from October to April. The Isles of Scilly start the season off in October with the tiny variety and finally finishes in April with the larger trumpet styles.

*~*In the home*~*

I planted narcissus around our tree in the grass of our front lawn and since planting the bulbs they have successfully grown each year at the latter part of February offering a colourful display to brighten the cold mornings.
Once planted they really do not require any further care as they are quite hardy plants, although if they are close to a path way it is important to ensure that they do not get trodden on.

I love having the larger daffodils on display in the home and you can generally get a large bunch from any supermarket or florist for as little as £1 for 20 stems so they are a great addition to any home and a subtle fragrance fills the room.

Daffodils should not be mixed with any other cut flowers however as the sap is toxic to other flowers. If they must be mixed with other flowers then the daffodils should be left in their own water for at least 12 hours before being mixed with other cut flowers.

Generally daffodils will last for approximately a week but thrive in a cool atmosphere so try to avoid putting them in a warm area to get the best from the flowers.

For any daffodils that are grown in the garden it is important that you do not remove the flowers or the leaves as they contain valuable food for next year's flowering and by cutting them down to early they may fail to reproduce the following year. As ours are around our tree we have to leave them for at least 6 weeks before trimming them away to ensure that we get a good display the following year.

I think daffodils are lovely flowers that don't get celebrated all that much and they are so cheap they are ideal to bring a bit of spring into your home.

Daffodils are now the symbol for Marie Curie Cancer and around this time of the year they produce artificial daffodils to raise money for Cancer Research as they are said to symbolise new hope and life.

Summary: A great spring flower that looks great in a vase or in the ground.