“ I ’m always pleased to see a daffodil ” squeal Oxford University botanist Dr Robert Scotland to the author of this newfangled story of the ubiquitous natural spring flower . With those seven Logos he speak for a nation . Narcissi , daffadillys , Lent lily , jonquils , haverdrils , julians , daffydowndillies , call them what you will , daffodils are much darling flowers . Yet this has not always been so . The British considered daffodil little more than common weeds for century . When William Wordsworth wandered alone as a swarm in 1802 , both his host of terpsichore daffodils and his poetry were consider “ an insult on the public taste ” .
In her newfangled al-Qur’an , Daffodil , Biography of a Flower , Helen O’Neill graph the long and colorful history of one of Britain ’s favourite flowers . From its associations with demise and disaster , to planetary symbolisation of hope and healing , Helen ’s book is an gratifying hoyden through 2300 gold years of the daffodil , written from a very personal position . Diagnosed with breast cancer , separated from her family in England by thousands of miles of land and H2O , it was the Narcissus pseudonarcissus in various guises that pay Helen the strength to outlive her trial by ordeal .
A relatively complex efflorescence , the daffodil ’s story get about 18 million eld ago . Helen Picks up the ribbon in 300BC with Theophrastus . The journey takes us from ancient Greece and the Roman Empire to Spain , Portugal and Holland , terminate firmly on English soil . No other race on world has taken the daffodil to its heart quite like British , who have done so much to advance , understand , catalogue and work its cheerful rosiness .
Key protagonists in the mythology , uncovering and popularisation of Narcissus pseudonarcissus , from Narcissus himself to Cornish grower and hybridiser Ron Scamp , are colourfully portray . Helen alludes to a time when daffodil fanatism almost reached the peak of tulipomania and orchidelirium , but in truth daffodil ’s tale is a steadier and more richly textured one than either of those two flowers . The author proffer us a riches of information without dwelling for too long on any one scene of the bloom , demonstrating her skill as an editor as well as a writer . My only kick would be that the Word ’s various representative and photographs are willy-nilly positioned and uncaptioned . Just occasionally they do not feature Narcissus pseudonarcissus at all : a exposure implant in the chapter on Wordsworth depicts marsh marigolds , not daffodils , growing on a lake shore . Despite these venial hiccups , the book is beautifully produced and print on newspaper as smooth , silky and startlingly white as the petals ofNarcissus poeticus , the poet ’s daffodil of quondam .
Plant monographs execute the risk of being irksome and narrowly focussed , but not this one . The story of the Narcissus pseudonarcissus is one of mythology , superstitious notion , big businessman , survival , competition , science , healing and the pursuit of paragon . A sodding post - Christmas read , Daffodil , Biography of a Floweris guaranteed to get you in the humour for outpouring .
Daffodil , Biography of a Floweris publish by Harper Collins on February 9th 2017 , priced at £ 18.99 .
A spread from the ancient Helmingham Herbal and Bestiary
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Categories : Book Reviews , Bulbs , Flowers , Photography , Plants , Wild Flowers
Posted by The Frustrated Gardener
Narcissus poeticusvar.recurvus, the poet’s daffodil
Narcissus bulbocodium, Cape St Vincent, Portugal
