Some Erlicheer on a Grey Day

It has been a drizzling grey day without much light. This Erlicheer has been flowing in my garden for the past week, still looks and smells great. My father use to grow a lot of Narcissus and was always the first one to have these flowers in the market for Mothers day each year.. he would get a really good price for them too! It was my job to pick them and help him put them into bundles of 10.

The Botanical name for the Erlicheer is Narcissus hybrids N. jonquilla (jonquills) N. tazzetta (paperwhite) and the grow between 30 -60c in stem length. The country of origin is South-west Europe. They can come in colours of Cream, Orange, Pink, White, Yellow.

A very popular cut flower, daffodils, and the early flowering jonquils bring colour and scent to cold winter days. Interestingly, while daffodils do not make the top 10 cut flowers, they are the tenth most popular pot plant in Holland, and potted mini daffodils (like ‘Jetfire’) are very popular in Australia as well.

Daffodils, jonquils and the less well known varieties are often grouped together as ‘Narcissus’ which is the Genus name. The large yellow daffodils like ‘King Alfred’ are still the most popular, but other forms now come in white, cream, pink and pale orange, or a combination of two of these colours. The flowers have a large trumpet, or corona, surrounded by petals. Daffodils tend to have one flower per stem, jonquils, Paperwhite, Earlycheer have several. All forms, except daffodils have a strong scent.

These flowers produce a toxic sap that can kill other flowers, such as roses, carnations, freesias and tulips. To avoid this, do not combine narcissus with other flowers immediately after stem ends are cut. The sap can also cause allergic reactions in some people – so wear gloves when handling.

Interesting Facts about this Flower: The name is derived from the Greek legend of Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection in a stream. He stayed transfixed by the stream and the gods thought he would die of starvation so they changed him into the flower to stay there forever. In English, the name daffodil is derived from an earlier word "affodell", a variant of asphodel. The reason for the introduction of the initial "d" is not known, though from at least the sixteenth century "Daffadown Dilly" has appeared as a playful synonym of the name.
For more information on the Erlicheer.

A update on yesterdays blip: Firstly I am feeling much better and and secondly I am not too sure it may have been related but... the middle of the North Island had a strong earthquake not long ago, a 5.1