Daffodils 2020

Publ

My Mother loves jonquils. I have been planting lots of them in recent years, partly so I have them available to take her bouquets during February and March. I tried to find the black & white photo of 5-year-old Terrell presenting Mother a milk carton stuffed with flowers I'd picked for her... mostly dandelions, I think ... about 1952. (No luck.) So I've been picking flowers for her for about 68 years. What a blessing to continue to visit with her as I enter old age and she nears the century mark (97 now). 

Here is a bit of verse I wrote for her long ago:
--------
Dandelions in a Milk Carton

Thank you, Mama, 
For nursing me and diapering me,
for a dry set of sheets when I wet another,
for the Bible story book and Uncle Remus,
for all five sisters and my little brother, 
And all the good eating stuff
Like biscuits from wooden bowls
and datenut cakes and lemon fluff,
and Russian tea and yeast rolls  
For Jesus-loves-the-little-children and Deep-and-Wide,
For walking to school that first day by my side
And for your loving smile when I came in a run
with dandelions in a milk carton for all you’ve done.

Another recent addition to the yard.

David Matheny
Reminds me of Jesus's encouragement to us not to worry ...the daffodils of the field don't.

Tersi Bendiburg
Lovely jonquils, memories, and poem!

These tall but small yellow blooms were here when we bought the place. I probably should dig 'em and separate 'em --- I've never fooled with'em since 1993.

 

I've really enjoyed these. I planted them maybe twenty years ago or more. They are beginning to fade (mid-March).

Landscape designer (and my former student) Thomas Humphrey planted several of these camellias a decade or two ago.

Thomas Humphrey
Hey Terrell Shaw! Glad to see the picture. And I still remember your reading of The Jabberwocky in class! Hope you are doing well!

Terrell Shaw
And I still have the wooden horse cut-out you gave me when you were a kid decorating my yard on the side of my shed. 

These are my 2019 planting --- big yellow trumpets.

When I planted these tulips long ago they filled in between some Encore Azaleas, but those did not last.

More of the Fall 2019 planting.

I love these large mostly white blooms... a years-ago planting.

There are many varieties of daffodils. I think I planted these only last year.

Gleaning Facebook: Yard Flowers

Jonquils, daffodils, and hyacinths from our yard.

David Marlin Rains

YOUTUBE.COM

"The Calla Lilies are in Bloom Again"

"The Calla Lilies are in Bloom Again"

Ruth Baird Shaw
My wonderful son, Terry brought a vase of jonquils, daffodils, and hyacinths over to me Sunday afternoon!

 

Gleaning Facebook: Daffodils

 Spring is pushing stubbornly, resolutely, from the soil. Hope is still low to the ground, but I believe it will triumph over the gloom. Just watch. These little guys will soon "…beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze…" brighten our days.

Gleaning Facebook: Slow Start to Spring?

 In honor of my mother's birthday today I publish my annual jonquil photos. Mama loves these harbingers of Spring, as do I.

Unfortunately the dadgum daffodils are on strike ths year. I have always -- well, almost always -- been able to count on the sturdy little Defiers of Winter to lift their sunny trumpets to the skies and pronounce winter's doom on February First or even sooner. Below you see the brazen rascals announcing the coming of spring to travelers on Avenue A from their post at the end of my drive on January 29, 2009.

But here are the wimpy ne'er-do-well grandchildren of 2011, still bundled tight, barely showing any warm yellow, today, February 19, 2011.

Still it's good to see some progress toward Spring.

Happy Birthday, Mother!

----

George Barton How old is Ruth?, she has to be close to 90.

Ruth Baird Shaw George you are right. I was born in 1923 so if i live two more years will celebrate 90. So let me pass along a bit of wisdom. <smile> One of the interesting things about growing old is realizing that we do not loose all the other ages we have been! although I am now 88, i still know what it is like to be 18 and 28 and 38 etc. God is good...All the time!

Terrell Shaw What are you gonna believe, George, the calendar, or your eyes? My mother is no where near ninety.

George Barton Well, I know about how old you are, Charlie and Ruth had three babies before they had you, and I don't think Joan was born when your mom was 15 years old. She does look good, you would never guess her age unless you did the arithmatic.

Walter Jack Gipson Good shots Terry.

Terrell Shaw I don't know much about that, David. I remember Mrs. Harry Johnson made an effort to know many varieties. She planted a yard full out on Rockmart Road.

Terrell Shaw A jonquil finally burst forth this afternoon. Not in the bunch pictured but one near our front porch, so - ta-dah! -- today I rejoice to announce my First Jonquil of 2011!!! Take that, Winter!

Terrell Shaw I wrote a reply to Wordsworth's famous poem about daffodils a while back: http://aloneonalimb.blogspot.com/.../poetry-stretch-first...

Logan Boss Mothers and jonquils. When one is gone, the other persists, dependable, anticipated harbinger of Spring, awakening beautiful memories regrettably buried sometimes under Winter's decaying leaves. Enjoyed your response to Wordsworth's paean to daffodils and reflection, Terrell. Give your mom a big hug for me.

Gleaning Facebook: Daffodils

A sampling of the daffodil varieties in my yard.

Jim Ellington
You should see the one on the left as my background on my laptop! Thank you, Terrell!

Susan Cherones
OOOH I wish you'd come shoot me a daffodil album-they lool great! My favorite flower!

Nancy Johal Singh
amazing...great pics!

Ruthy Countryman
Wow!

Anita Stewart
Beautiful pics! Daffodils let us know that spring has arrived.

Wanda Mulkey Dagraedt
Do you think the really cold winter made them bigger? Mine are wonderful this year and much fuller than usual. Spring has sprung! Yea.

The First Jonquil: Harbinger of Spring

For many years now it has been my pleasure to search out a jonquil on February 1. Somehow it is very uplifting to know that somewhere in my hometown I can count on a precocious little daffodil raising its yellow trumpet in a solo fanfare to rouse its fellows, defy the frost or even ice and snow that may yet encrust its petals, and fairly shout, "Persevere, press on, Spring will come!" This year I had only to walk a few paces to the end of my own drive. And several days early, at that.

Jonquils from our yard and bugs on Mama's house

As I gave the yard its first trim of the year in the late afternoon sun today I glanced to the west. The lovely backlit jonquils prompted me to cut the power and go for the camera:

While I was at it I took a few other pics of our assorted jonquils:









Earlier in the day I had given Mother's yard the once over. As we were talking in the yard Mother asked if knew what all those bugs were.



Sure enough, closer inspection of black clumps on the side of her house revealed big clusters of insects with the telltale x on their backs: true bugs, order Hemiptera.


I guessed milkweed bug.



I took lots of shots. Home again I checked Bug Guide. It looks like Eastern Boxelder Bug (Leptocoris trivittatus).

Jonquils before Groundhog Day

Last week I took a stroll through our school woods, hoping to get a wildlife shot or two. Nothing as dramatic as the snake pictures from last summer or the groundhog shot from last spring. But it's nice to get the full view that the leafless woods provide this time of year. You get a better feel for the lay of the land. Here you can see the meander of our little stream way down the hill from our outdoor classroom.

Here the double white horizontal stripes that mark our boundary with Berry College property and a more recent blue boundary tape helps me keep our trail on our property.

This is probably an old home site. There are already lots of buds on the jonquils poking through the leaf mould.

Here it is February first and I take another walk. My annual Find a Jonquil Blooming before Groundhog Day Walk. Usually I can find somewhere in Rome Georgia a daffodil holding high its trumpet to announce that winter will pass. No luck this year. I was sure the clump above that seemed so ready to burst forth last week would be blooming now. Here's the same clump on Feb. 1.

It won't be long though.

Poetry Stretch: First Lines/New Directions

I have not been doing my poetry stretches the last few weeks. I am likely out of poetical shape. I hope to catch up at some point by writing a poem in each of the forms Tricia has put forward as challenges. This week she has invented a form called “First Lines and New Directions”. Tricia admits to dream-blogging during the pastor’s sermon last Sunday. I have engaged in that little sin myself. (Sorry, David!) One of my favorite Sunday morning pasttimes is perusing the Methodist Hymnal for alternate tunes for well known hymns. Our hymnbook has a bunch if indices: composers, authors, sources, scripture references, tune names, first lines, topics, etc. My favorite is the metrical index. It allows you to find those alternate tunes that will work for a particular hymn. Miss Tricia wants us to take one of her “first lines” and write a new poem with that beginning. Do you think we may produce a second great poem that begins “I wandered lonely as a cloud...”? I’m gonna give it a shot.

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" 

“I wandered lonely as a cloud” - 

The opening’s set, I like it fine. 

It worked well once, most have allowed. 

Now I attempt to tune each line 

To sing the beauty of my Earth 

And speak the most of each word’s worth. 

I stalk a trail and flush surprise 

These latter days across the sea. 

No less the jonquils, to my eyes - 

And iris, pink, and tulip tree, 

Assassin bug and water snake - 

A galaxy of glory make. 

I gaze with wonder, like ol’ Will, 

A happy poet in his ken, 

Hoping sparkling warbler’s trill 

Can flow from tree to brain to pen, 

And you on couch, or chair or bed 

Will hear the song when I am dead. 

So true, when all is writ and done, 

Whatever labor takes our time - 

Poems or plumbing, or fill in one - 

Since we emerged from primal slime, 

Our fancy's eye replays our thrills - 

Lovers, poems, or daffodils.

- by Terrell Shaw

For the record here is William Wordsworth's original:

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

I wandered lonely as a cloud 

That floats on high o'er vales and hills, 

When all at once I saw a crowd, 

A host, of golden daffodils; 

Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. 

Continuous as the stars that shine 

And twinkle on the milky way, 

They stretched in never-ending line 

Along the margin of a bay: 

Ten thousand saw I at a glance, 

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. 

The waves beside them danced; 

but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: 

A poet could not but be gay, 

In such a jocund company: 

I gazed---and gazed---but little thought 

What wealth the show to me had brought: 

For oft, when on my couch I lie 

In vacant or in pensive mood, 

They flash upon that inward eye 

Which is the bliss of solitude; 

And then my heart with pleasure fills, 

And dances with the daffodils.

- by William Wordsworth

January Jonquils!!

Every year here in lovely North Georgia, I venture out on the first day of February to look for Spring. I find great joy in knowing that somewhere about our fair city, if I search long enough, I will find at least one little daffodil shooing away the winter, even if it has to poke above a rare dusting of snow. Here it is, January 6, 2007, and the buds on this little clump of jonquils in my front yard are already showing yellow. And if you look carefully you will see that one little bud has begun to open. Today was the fourth day in a row that Sheila and I (and Lil, twice) have walked a least a couple of miles through downtown in our shirt sleeves. I know these are only anecdotal evidences of warming trends but - I swanie! - there sure have been an awful lot of warm winters lately.