Tuesday, April 21, 2009

We have short time to stay, as you, we have as short a spring. ~ Robert Herrick

(Narcissus Delibes)


And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.
~ William Wordsworth


We all know William Wordsworth's famous poem Daffodils, but did you know this and many of his poems had their source in the lovely writings of his younger sister Dorothy? This is her journal entry said to be the inspiration of the poem.

I never saw daffodils so beautiful they grew among the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay ever dancing ever changing.




(Narcissus - Double Fun)



One more interesting item in the early spring garden. No blooms yet but this hard working little foliage plant deserves some mention. Without a lot of notice it goes about its business of covering every inch of bare soil with soft, fuzzy silver leaves.



(Lamb's Ear Stachys Byzantina)

48 comments:

Susie said...

Those are beautiful daffodils Marnie. I have a little bit of Lamb's ear growing myself. Love the softness of the foliage.

Randy said...

I love daffs, we have lots of them, but I keep digging thru the clumps to plant other things! Don't you hate that when it happens? LOL

Unknown said...

Beautiful post! I do love my Lamb's Ear too..

Gail said...

Marnie,

Did he ever credit her as his muse? Love the Double Fun...I have a similar one and it is fragrant...a pleasant fragrance! Lambs ear is only sort of happy here...the soil is pretty heavy....but it is a hard working garden plant in the right spot!

gail

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Hi Marnie, my lamb's ears are just coming back to life, too, and I also think they look nice among the daffodils. Is it gray there today too? At least it didn't snow!

JC said...

I Love Daffs !!!
I found your site yesterday and due to the similarity in our names .. well, I just had to add you to my list. I'm glad I did !!!

Anonymous said...

I love your Daffodils Marnie! What an interesting bit of information on how Wordsworth got his inspiration for his famous poem about this spring beauty. I've decided I must add more of these reliable spring bloomers next fall. :)

Dog_geek said...

I never knew that about Wordsworth! I'm glad to see that spring has finally arrived for you!

tina said...

Lovely spring poems. I must say, I have never read poetry except when forced to in high school. And while I know who Longfellow is, it is simply because I went to a school named after him in Maine. I always thought that special but feel a bit deprived I don't read poetry. That is one very good reason I blog-to get enriched. The poets of the world are so eloquent in their words they surely bring to live the gardens around us. I can just pictures a daffodil resting its head on mossy rocks. So nice! You have the most heartfelt posts Marnie. Love them!

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Susie, the softness and the silver color. Silver is such a nice accent to many colors.

Jamie and Randy, I always forget I planted alliums or a daffodils and cut thru them. Out of sight out of mind. I do hate that.

Hi Darla, a nice plant in spring and early summer.

Marnie

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Gail, mine struggles in the late summer. It does better if I never allow it to flower.


Monica, it's raining today. I won't complain because we were very dry up until Sunday. The temperatures are only in the 30's so that isn't exactly springlike.

Hi JC, I'm so glad you stopped to visit and leave a comment. I hope you find interesting things to come back and look at.

PerennialGardener, I added the ones in the photo last fall. It would probably be a good idea to add a few every year.

Hi DogGeek, you would know it's spring if you visited today. It's cold and it's wet and dreary. End of whine;)

Marnie

Roses and Lilacs said...

Tina, I wasn't a fan of poetry in school either. Perhaps we just don't have enough life experience to appreciate it. Or maybe our young brains are just so busy with actively living we don't have the patience for introspection. Now that I can choose the poetry I read and not be forced to analyze every word, I find it's wonderful to just feel the words and see the pictures.
Marnie

Anonymous said...

I didn't know that about the poem.I have always loved poetry ...english literature was my favorite class. Beautiful photos too....Michelle

ChrisND said...

Great daffodils....and the lambs ear is just so fuzzy!

Joanne said...

I love foliage plants like your lambs ear, they add such nice textures to a garden.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Michelle, kind of a romantic, saccerine sweet poem with a couple good lines;) I liked the sisters journal entries better.

Chris, they remind me of kitty fur;)

Hi Joanne, I think so too. Texture is important and furry texture is rare and friendly. Who doesn't reach down and touch it?

Marnie

Sherri said...

I have regular lamb's ears in my garden and giant lamb's ears too! I love those plants! Did you know they used these plants as bandaids during the Civil War. Pretty smart, they are very soft and they absorb liquid.

BeadedTail said...

Beautiful photos! Is Lamb's ear the same as Rabbit's ear? I've heard of a Rabbit's ear plant but not Lamb's ear and wasn't sure if they are two different plants. Now that I finally have time, I can't wait to start working in my garden!

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Sherri, I did not know that. I wouldn't have guessed they would absorb anything. I can use them to blot up the blood when I'm pruning roses:) I'm looking for the large leaved variety. I've heard they don't melt out so much in the heat of late summer. Thanks for the info.

BaededTail, I've never heard of rabbit's ear plants. Rabbit's foot ferns but not rabbit's 'ear'. My guess is that they are two different plants.

I know how you feel about getting outdoors and doing some gardening. We had a couple nice days then it turned very cold and started to rain again.
Marnie

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Seeing your lambs ears gave me a little giggle at myself. This spring a friend of mine was visiting as I walked her to her car on departure we walked by a stand of lambs ears and she told me how she "loved to clean out the dead leaves in lambs ears". I told her it wouldn't be necessary to do that for me I would get to it...and I did. I just love ole HWL. I think his sister did a lot of his inspiration. The more I read about her I wonder if she didn't write for him sometimes. ??

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Lisa, cleaning out all that dead foliage at winter's end isn't my favorite job. I can't imagine how someone could enjoy it. The differences in how people think is an amazing thing.

You know what they say about a woman being behind every successful man. We know that's true;)
Marnie

Becca's Dirt said...

This is my first visit to your blog and what a nice blog you have. I will be back for more. I love daffodils and yours are fabulous. Happy Gardening... Becca

Balisha said...

Hi Marnie...I love poetry..thanks for the treat. You have a new header....so pretty!Lamb's Ears are one of my favorite grays in the garden.

Andrea said...

Wonderful photos...simply breathtaking! Thank you so much for stopping by Finding Sirius and leaving such a kind comment. It's so nice to "meet" you...Border Collies are great dogs, arent' they! I look forward to exploring more of your blog. :)

Anonymous said...

Your pictures are always so stunning!

And could you tell me what that fern-like plant is...that is growing at the base of the daffs in the first photo? It looks similar to a plant that I bought at a garage sale in Alabama. I have some growing here. But no one can tell me what it is.

Interesting info. about Wordsworth's poem.

joey said...

Great photos, dear Marnie ~ love your Spring header! My daffs :) are swaying in the sleety rain :( but there is hope for a fabulous weekend. In the meantime, hope your Lamb's Ear don't catch cold ... they hate wet feet!

Kathleen said...

Wow, double fun is doubly pretty. I don't have any double daffodils ~ I think I should change that! They're gorgeous. My lambs ears is coming back too. It's always a favorite especially with kids. My niece used to like to rub the leaves when she was little. I still do it every so often just because it feels good. Another person who never read poetry. I always thought something was wrong with me. I like to read it on peoples blogs now tho especially when it's so appropriate like with this post.

Pat said...

Always intrigued by lams ear.
Your daffodils are delightful.

Kerri said...

Marni, your daffs are gorgeous! Love those frilly doubles.
Interesting that Wordsworth's inspiration for the daffodil poem was his sister. It's always been one of my favorites.
That's a great photo of the fuzzy lamb's ear.

Gayle@Mountain Moma said...

How informative. I planted daffodils in the cold rain of October and now my front bed is filled with yellow. They were so worth the effort that cold day. When we moved here Lamb's Ear was in the garden. My children were the first ones to come and get me to "feel this". They bring back sweet memories of how my children touched and explored nature.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hello Becca, thank you for visiting and leaving that kind comment. It's great to have a new garden friend.

Hi Balisha, it's one of my favorites too. It makes a nice carpet of silver beneath roses.

Andrea, it is so nice to see another border collie admirer stop by. Welcome.

Hi Carla, the plant with the lovely leaves is tansy. It's a fast spreader but in my garden it's growing in gravel where the sissy plants won't grow. It has button like yellow flowers late in the summer. I like it, its a fern for sunny locations.

Marnie

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Joey, cold and rainy here yesterday. Our spring flowers look nice so much longer in this cold weather;) A nice weekend predicted for us too.

Hi Kathleen, lamb's ear is one of the plants always recommended for children. I never liked the poetry we had to study either.

Hi Pati, thank you.

Kerri, those doubles are unusual. This fall I'll add more because I like them too.

Gayle, it's always fun when children discover something like lamb's ear or velvet leaf. They can't believe a plant has fur.

Marnie

Marnie

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Marnie. My plant is a fast spreader also...but it's never put on flowers...so I guess I still don't know what it is. It's probably some invasive plant that most people hate. :-)

A Wild Thing said...

Happy Earth Day Marnie...to celebrate, I'm going to pick up my new neighbors trash that has spent a winter blowing around my six acres, before the birds start using Walmart bags for nesting...have a wonderful day friend!

sharon

Roses and Lilacs said...

Carla, mine doesn't bloom every year. It gets about 20" tall if I don't cut it back.

Hi Sharon, Happy Earth Day to you too. I get the feeling your neighbors are not into anything environmental. Bummer to live next to people that can't even pick up their trash.

Marnie

Anonymous said...

I did not know his sister wrote that and so interesting. Your daffs are marvelous darling. I want some. I will get them in the Autumn. It's about the only Spring thing that the deer won't haul off.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi FlowerGrdenGirl, aren't those little ones cute. I'm adding more doubles in the fall. I really like them.
Marnie

sweetbay said...

Beautiful daffs. I love Lamb's Ear too but it usually melts down for me.

Oddly, I hate poetry but love literature that is probably poetry after all -- boiled down to a bare essence and concentrated form. I don't mean stark or barren, but writing that hits the nervepoints and resonates with the reader.

100 Thoughts of Love said...

love, LOVE the double ones! so pretty!

Rose said...

Your daffodils are all so beautiful, Marnie! Yes, enjoy them while you can; my first yellow ones have already stopped blooming. Herrick is the perfect poet for this idea--I always think of "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may..." In fact, that's the only poem of his I remember ever reading:) Wordsworth, on the other hand, has always been a favorite of mine. I knew that Dorothy was an inspiration to him, but only recently learned that he "borrowed" her ideas for his famous poem.

Cordwood Cabin said...

I've never heard that about Wordsworth's sister before -- which is sad, since I took so many college lit classes. Beautiful photos ... here spring is rapidly becoming the tangled jungle of summertime, with tall weeds and overgrown honeysuckle vines.

Nan and =^..^= said...

Hi Marnie,
I just got back home on Thursday and was greeted by the golden glow of the daffodils swaying in the breeze. What a wonderful sight and the poems captured the feeling so beautifully!

The Birdlady said...

Mmmmm! I can smell them.

Mary said...

Love that Lamb's Ear shot...so soft looking!

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