SPRING YELLOW

The previous owners seem to have been avid gardeners. Although many of their planting beds became overgrown in the years that the house sat vacant, I can say, with some confidence, that they were especially fond of yellow blooming spring flowers. Last fall, we removed over twenty LARGE clumps of forthsythia and still have no shortage of the shrub on the grounds. And the daffodil display in the spring is impressive. While the common yellow daffodil is predominant, I am partial to the more unusual breeds, such as the white flowers with orange-ish red centers and the pale yellow flowers with crinkled petals. I've recently read that there's growing interest among gardeners for 'heritage' cultivars, which refer to daffodils bred more than 50 years ago. These older cultivars, perfect for naturalizing, are larger than the miniatures and are far more natural looking than the modern hybrids. Many of the heritage cultivars also emit a mild fragrance, something that was lost in the more recent quest for the bigger, brighter flower. While I may never be able to identify any of our cultivars, I can only hope, if only for the fantastic names alone, that we have a few Narcissus 'Sir Watkin', 'Maximus Superbus' and 'Canary Bird' in our collection. See below for a few photos from this weekend.