Willy's Lilies

The chances are that when Willy Wordsworth decided to scribe a ditty about spring flowers, it was the Lenten Lily that was his inspiration.

The Lenten or Lent Lily (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) is also known as the wild daffodil. It is native to the British Isles and Europe, growing in ancient woodland and damp meadows.

In the 1800s these demure and dainty flowers were the forerunners to the brash and flamboyant cultivated cousins that we are familiar with in our gardens today.

I'm a long way from Cumbria here but some of the local woodland is ancient and untouched and has a host of original native golden daffodils beneath the trees. They were fluttering and dancing in the breeze in the evening sunshine.

The Daffodils

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.

By William Wordsworth