【英语时差8,16】水仙花

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Mohammed said “Let him who hath two loaves sell one and buy the flower narcissus: for bread is but food for the body, whereas narcissus is food for the soul.” The genus “narcissus” includes daffodils and jonquils. A daffodil has a trumpet¹ that is as long as or longer than the surrounding petals². The bulbs are available in garden centers in the fall and it is fun to plant different varieties and colors. Select some from each of the early, mid³ and late spring bloomers for a long sequence of bloom. Then, if late winter storms ruin your early bloomers, you won’t be completely bereft⁴. Jonquils are late bloomers, have shallow cups rather than trumpets⁵, are fragrant⁶ and cluster on one stem.

    Narcissus bulbs are poisonous so thankfully deer avoid them. They do best in sun tolerate some shade and need good drainage. The foliage⁷ is unsightly as it dies down, but is needed to store food for the following year’s bloom. Disguise it by planting narcissus with perennials⁸ such as day lilies. It is interesting that daffodils caused the first wildlife protection legislation.

    During the reign⁹ of the Stuarts in England, the picking of wild daffodils to be sold at court, caused a public outcry. Laws were then passed to protect these native plants.

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