Botanica Atlanta - Landscape Design, Construction & Maintenance

The early daffodils are starting to bloom and the rest are up and running despite the cool weather.  For generations these simple flowers have given pleasure to gardeners and poets alike.  So it may come as surprise to some that these bright spring flowers were not always popular.

Wild, simple, but attractive early daffodils.

Wild daffodils tend to be the earliest and simplest blooming variety, and the colonial home owners rated them just about on a par with those bright orange ditch lillies that grow on the roadside today. It was the mid 19th century before someone brought the idea to America that daffodils in lawns looked attractive. This took a little while to come to the south, but by 1900 it seems certain that they were catching on everywhere.

According to Sara Van Beck, a daffodil historian, the flowers were also planted on gravesites. Curiously, if you visit old graveyards in small North Georgia towns, you will see slightly different varieties of daffodils growing in each one. Each village or town seem to exclusively use one preferred type. 

Old fashioned, early daffodils.

The early old fashioned daffodils in this picture are likely Telamonius plenus, or Van Sion (which are two names for the same variety) This variety is colloquially known as the Easter Flower or Butter and Eggs. It has a double bloom, and was very common in 19th century homes and estates.