Growing up in Hawaiʻi, I can’t remember ever hearing or reading about daffodils, and I can’t say when I saw my first one. But after I moved to the mainland, I was hooked. I fell in love with their bright colors, the way they danced in the breeze, and that there were so many different varieties of them. I always bought bulbs in the autumn, and rejoiced when they began poking their first green leaves through the ground in the spring.
When we lived in California for several years, every spring we’d take our girls and drive up to Daffodil Hill in Sutter Creek, owned by a wonderful man who owned acres and acres of daffodils. He’d been injured in WW2 (I think), and though he’d been badly injured, he and his wife planted many daffodils, showing year after year that beauty exists wherever you are. We were honored to have met him in person. The five of us wandered slowly through the daffodils, marveling at their beauty and abundance, and hearing . It’s hard to describe how beautiful the whole area was, with over 300,000 daffodils blooming. I could’ve stayed their all spring!
Here’s some history about Daffodil Hill.
I was so sad to hear in 2019 that it has closed indefinitely:
McLaughlin’s Daffodil Hill, a field of beautiful yellow and white flowers outside of California’s state capital of Sacramento, has announced that it will be closing indefinitely due to fallout from its unexpected popularity on social media. Jul 19, 2019
What a shame! You can read more about it here, and see a few photos. It was never like that when we were there, and I feel so grateful that we were able to go at a time when there were only a few visitors year after year. Here’s a short video that tells a bit more about Daffodil Hill
After we left California and moved back to Oregon, I made sure that we always had daffodils growing in our yard. And I’ve been a consummate daffodil photographer all these years since. So without more delay, here’s a plethora of daffy photos I’ve taken through the years. This year especially, the daffodils are everywhere!
This autumn I’m going to buy a bunch of Mt. Hood daffodils…they’re pure white and I love them! Even whiter than these ones.
I was walking out of the gym one day and saw daffodils’ reflection in a puddle, so of course, I had to take this photo. I’m pretty happy with it!
I leave you with one of my very favorite poems about daffodils.
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
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.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched 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 Mānoa Girl's Bloggie 
I can’t imagine not knowing of daffodils! But then again, I’m sure you grew up with many flowers I’ve never seen or even heard of.
Each place where there are flowers has its own beauty, doesn’t it? It was like a whole new language when I moved to the mainland.
Same re daffodils. Not cold enough in our parts of Hawai`i to grow them. I have some growing on lanai right now, and I especially love the ones that have fragrance.
I remember vividly being on a Seattle city bus one day feeling blue when we rounded a corner near some daffodils. I had a flash of wisdom: sometimes we need to work for future happiness, like planting bulbs in the fall.
Here’s to planting little pockets of happiness.
I love love love your comment and the idea of planting pockets of happiness for future blessings.