Daffodil: March's Flower of the Month

March 27, 2025

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.

Taken from I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by William Wordsworth

About the Daffodil

Daffodils symbolize rebirth and new beginnings around the world as they pop up in the spring. They are March’s birth flower, the astrological flower of Pisces, and a gift for 10th wedding anniversaries.

The botanical name for the daffodil is Narcissus, named after the young man in Greek mythology which we’ll touch on later. The root of the word is derived from the Greek word “narko” also rooted in narcotic. It means “numb” which is fitting as the entire plant is poisonous.

The plant is said to have been cultivated since 300 BC. The Romans were known to have planted daffodils in memory of loved ones or fallen soldiers. They were most likely the ones to bring the plant to Britain from the Iberian Peninsula where the largest variety of daffodil species are found.

Mythology and Folklore

In one of Greek mythology’s most well known stories, the young man Narcissus transforms into a daffodil. Narcissus was a self absorbed man who refused to form any connection with friends, family, or suitors. There are many forms of the story, but the main theme is that one suitor was so distraught by his rejection that they called on the gods to curse him.

The gods obliged and caused Narcissus to become entranced by his watery reflection. Various endings say he fell into the water and drowned, stared at himself for eternity, or withered away into a daffodil. Flower origin stories are rarely happy in Greek mythology, and this is no exception.

One prominent legend in Christianity says that on the night of the Last Supper, a daffodil appears in the Garden of Gethsemane to comfort Jesus after he hears of Judas’ betrayal.

In parts of the British Isles, including Wales (where the national flower is the daffodil) the flowers are great luck! If you are the first neighbor to spot a daffodil in the spring, then it means you’ll see good wealth in the coming season. In another tradition, if you make a deliberate effort not to step on daffodils, you will be rewarded with fortune and abundance. If you gift daffodils, then you are also gifting good luck - but careful! If you gift a single daffodil then you are bestowing bad luck instead.

But my favorite story to come of this research is the Legend of the Chinese Lily. The story starts off with a father who has two sons. When he passes away he leaves them his land to divide. The eldest son takes the fertile land and leaves the rocky, wet area to his brother. A kind fairy sees this happen and gifts the younger brother with three daffodil bulbs. The flowers are greatly admired and he can grow and sell the bulbs to make a good fortune. The elder brother sees this and plants hundreds of bulbs on his land to try and outcrop his sibling. But his daffodils all die because they are too close together and can’t get enough water. The story is a lesson in greed, and comically also a lesson in proper garden care.

Pretty to Look at, Not to Eat

All parts of the daffodil are poisonous. They contain a plethora of toxic chemicals -lycorine, galantamine, homolycorine, and tazettine to name a few. The stems and leaves are sometimes mistaken for allium or onions which leads to some unfortunate

situations. This happened so often that in 2015 Public Health England send out a memo to major supermarkets to warn them about this “emerging risk” They warned them that the flowers should not be placed in the produce section in case people mistake them for onions.

Eating daffodils will result in Narcissus poisoning which can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea within hours. In extreme cases, it can cause trembling, convulsions, and paralysis. Pretty to look at, definitely not to eat. Picking daffodils can also cause contact dermatitis from the sap which produces a type of latex. They’re bad news for humans and our furry friends, but on top of that, daffodils are detremental to other flowers. In flower arrangements, adding daffodils will kill the other flowers faster as they absorb the toxic compounds in the water. A bit ironic that they’re such a beloved spring bloom, yet can be so destructive.

Hybridization

Creating new types of daffodils is incredibly easy…until you want to produce a flower. It is one of the easiest plants to hybridize. All you need to do is pick two flowers you like and pollinate one with the other. But after that the hard part starts as you need five to six years to get a mature bulb that can produce a flower.

Hybridization has become quite the topic among gardeners as some dislike the number of new species created. The plant has been so manipulated by humans that it’s lost the original appearance, aroma, and nectar production of its predecessors. These are all things pollinators rely on to successfully find food and help grow gardens. The manipulation we have caused makes many species bad contenders for pollinator gardens, but still beautiful contenders for spring blooms.

Fun Facts!

There are up to 40 species of daffodil and more than 27,000 registered hybrids.
Cornwall is the world’s largest daffodil producer
Next year’s daffodil blooms depend on this year’s foliage so don’t trim to early!
Daffodils are so poisonous they’re pest resistant