In our part of the world, the sudden blossoming of daffodils proclaims spring more effectively than most anything else, with the possible exception of forsythia. Pushing their way through still frosty earth early in the year, daffodils stubbornly gather strength in weather that would seem lethal to the tender shoots. Then they race for the sky and ... wait.

Suddenly one day you notice a slight tinge of yellow at the tips, then more and more until some morning the first one opens. Then the other follow in a mad rush.

We have a number of different kinds in our backyard, including my favorites - yellow-petaled with an orangey-yellow bell in the center. We cut them and share them with our friends and offices.

Of course, the most famous daffodil of all is William Wordsworth's:

"Daffodils" (1804)
I Wander'd 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 stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

A tip on raising daffodils: Let the green stalks die back completely before cutting them. Yeah, it makes the patch look messy, but those stalks are making food for the bulbs, so you will have more and better daffodils the next year!