The first daffodil of the season! Ok, so it isn't the first daffodil in town, only the first in my yard. Around town everyone's daffodils are in full swing and looking bright and cheerful, so I've been wondering what mine were waiting on. I know that I got them in the ground late and that sometimes first year bulbs are a little shyer than those that have been settled in for a while, but when everyone else has them popping out of the ground you start to wonder.
I'm guessing that this little guy might be Narcissus 'Little Gem', but don't quote me on that. I planted 24 different kinds of Narcissus and mixed them up all over the place. A quick note about terminology: 'Narcissus' is the genus name for the whole bunch of these guys; 'daffodil' is the common name. You can use either name for any of them, though I've always referred to the ones with deep cups as 'daffodils' and the ones with smaller cups or little multiple blooms as 'Narcissus'. It doesn't help that some folks refer to some of them as jonquils, but in general I'm gonna call the deep-cupped flowers daffodils and the other guys Narcissus, or use Narcissus to refer to them all in general.
The grape hyacinths (Muscari sp.) are finally showing themselves, too. I've got nine different varieties of them in the ground, and the first few are starting to bloom now. I've always liked these guys. They are tiny and easy to miss. When I was growing up, they grew all in our fields. Plowing each spring just seemed to spread them everywhere.
