For years, especially after a sunny spring afternoon drive in the country, I’ve wondered, “Who planted all those daffodils?” Whether in clumps or in drifts of eye-catching yellow, they can be seen where no other signs of human habitation remain.
Who planted the original bulbs? How long have they been popping up, year after year?
According to the American Daffodil Society’s “Daffodil FAQs,” daffodil bulbs “should outlast any of us.” That explains why they remain after houses and other signs of human habitation are long gone. And, because daffodil clumps keep expanding through a process called naturalization, they tend to increase in number each year where growing conditions are favorable.
I like to muse about farm women hundreds of years ago thrilling to the sight of daffodil blooms in the spring, just as we crave their re-appearance now. At the T.C. Steele property in Nashville, visitors can see a good example first-hand of Selma Steele’s handiwork as a gardener. No building was off-limits to Selma as she lovingly planted around the main house, her husband’s art studio and beyond. The Brown County home, built in 1907, was called “The House of the Singing Winds.” In the painting “Selma in the Garden,” her famous artist-husband features her kneeling in front of a row of blooming perennial flowers. Many of the same flowers that she planted back in the early 1900s can still be found blooming there to this day, though a little re-construction of beds has helped freshen beds that had seen better days.
One glance at the painting, and present-day gardeners can relate to just how many hours spent kneeling in front of a row of perennial flowers it takes to maintain a flower bed of any size. We also know well the irresistible draw she felt to get out there and plant: to beautify our properties with efforts that withstand the test of time, many returning each year to put a spot of cheer in our lives.
There are just a few things with perennials that bear mentioning. For one, just like many beloved things, they’re cuter when they’re little. For another, those lovely little clumps that look so perfect in a half-gallon nursery pot soon grow. And grow and grow. You may have noticed at plant sales there are often many plants of the same type and color cheerfully offered up by plant club members. That’s because, in the spring of the year, gardeners divide their perennials. Mostly because a big plant has outgrown its attractiveness where it was planted, and dividing takes it back to the size it was when it was originally planted. Not to mention that dividing increases the vigor of the mother plant.
The way I see it, it’s not a bad tradeoff for having a few years of no-maintenance, carefree gardening, with plants popping up each year with no prompting. And, once mature and divided, free plants to keep or give away.
Becky Pinto has been a Master Gardener since 2002 and the Master Gardener newsletter editor since 2005. She’s a Silver Level Master Gardener, based on cumulative volunteer hours served in the program. Send comments to therepublic.com.
