Floral Friday ~ Daffodils

“Daffodils are somehow the quintessential spring flower.” ~ Noel Kingsbury

Flower Meaning
March’s Birth Flower, the daffodil stands for new beginnings, rebirth and the coming of spring.  Some other common meanings are: creativity, inspiration, awareness, memory and forgiveness.

Greek Mythology
Part of the Narcissus family, the origin goes back to Greek mythology and the story of Narcissus himself.  He was the most handsome boy, but he never returned anyone’s affections.  He fell in love with his own reflection in the waters of a spring and pined away.  In the place where he died, a beautiful flower grew, and the nymphs called it Narcissus.

Classification
Daffodils can be classified into 12 divisions such as trumpet, large-cup, small-cup, etc.  You can read more about daffodil classification here.

Care and Handling
Daffodils can be stored dry and cool until ready to use.  Once the stems are cut and put in water, the blooms will begin to open.  If they will be used with other flowers in an arrangement, first put them in a bucket of water with flower preservative by themselves. This is important because they excrete a sap-like substance from the stems during the first few hours that can damage other flowers.