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The Poet's Daffodil

Narcissus poeticus.

READERS of old books may be sometimes perplexed by references to daffodils and bastard daffodils, and may even ask why the English narcissus of the meadows is called a pseudo-narcissus. There are two explanations at hand. According to the legend the flower sprang from the dead form of the beautiful boy, who, turning from the favouring smiles of Echo, by whom he was beloved, to admire his own image in the water, fell in and was drowned, the victim of self-love. As the flower was named "Narcissus" to keep him in remembrance, the question will arise, which amongst many kinds is the fabled narcissus? The flower now figured was and is the veritable remembrancer; it is the true narcissus of the poets, and of its mythical origin let those doubt who dare. It follows that other narcissi are pseudo-narcissi, and as such we find them entered in the old books, the designation serving to remind us that we must not look for the likeness of the youth in any flower but this lovely Narcissus poeticus. It is the last to flower of all the charming family to which it belongs, and when its snowy blooms are seen nodding to the wind and the sunshine we know that summer is near at hand, for this is not one of the "daffodils that take the winds of March with beauty," for it rarely flowers until the month of April, and in late seasons is not seen until towards the middle of May. The poet's narciss is a plant of Southern Europe, very freely scattered on the coast-lines of the Mediterranean and Adriatic. It is nevertheless quite hardy in the English garden, and a thriving plant, bearing patiently a certain amount of shade, yet flowering but poorly if much overshaded. It agrees with other daffodils in requiring a deep, rich, moist soil; and therefore, when planted in a garden where the soil is thin and poor, stations must be prepared for it with some good loam and well-rotted manure.