Daffodils

A sure sign of spring is a road bank or walkway lined with these spring beauties.  Daffodils.

I spend my time when riding down our country byways spying patches of daffodils that linger in fields and under towering trees.  They almost always tell of a long-forgotten homestead where some flower-loving farm wife dug the soil and planted spring bulbs to brighten her yard. 

Andy is the gardener in our family.  When we bought our property...in the fall...he ordered bulbs so we would have daffodils in the spring.  We planted them in three small patches, near the place where we thought the house might be.  We covered them with straw and chicken wire and hoped for the best.  The extra protection was to discourage our local herd of armadillos from digging up our plants in their search for grubs and worms.

The next spring we kept an eye out for the green shoots to appear.  And they did.  A few at a time.  And soon we had some blooms.  Not many but enough to know that we had been successful in our daffodil planting.

As the house was built and the yard came into being, we dug up the bulbs in the fall and replanted them on the bank that sits on the edge of our driveway.  Trying to figure the best placement was a chore, but we finally decided on rows that we hoped would fill in with time.

That first spring followed an unusually mild winter.  The daffodils started to bloom long before it was really time for them to show their flowers.  And then we had snow on the first day of spring.  I have pictures of those yellow heads drooping under a cover of white.  But they survived.

This spring they are blooming in profusion.  The wonderful thing about daffodils is that they spread and, as they become settled, more flowers appear each spring.  I walk down to check on them and pick some for a bouquet or two in the house.  But mostly I like to leave them blooming there on the side of the hill.

I like to think that when we are no longer here  perhaps someone will drive up the road, spot those lovely spring blooms and think, "Some body who loved daffodils lived here a long time ago."  And they will smile to see those yellow rays of sunshine, growing on my hill.