Fun Stories About Some Spring Bulbs

While I was searching for some pictures of daffodils I cam across a few bits of history or mythology that pertain to some of my favorite springtime bulbs. Although these stories have nothing specifically to do with being house proud, they are fun nonetheless. I have repeated some of the most interesting facts below.

Apparently, my favorite daffodils were brought to the United Kingdom by the Romans. At the time the Romans thought that the nectar from daffodils had special healing powers. This is a bit strange as it is now commonly known that the sap from daffodils can have an irritating effect on exposed skin. The sap doesn't bother me much but if you are going to be handling many cut daffodils you might want to wear gloves,

The official botanical name for daffodils is narcissus. Greek mythology provides the root of this name. According to mythology, there was a young Greek named Narcissus who was entirely full of himself. A nymph called Echo was in love with him, but Narcissus cruelly ended the relationship. Heartbroken she hid in a cave and later died alone. After her death, Narcissus saw his face in a pool of water, and as he leaned over to get a better view, he fell in, drowned and became the flower.


According to Greek mythology the hyacinth flowering bulb got its name from a young boy named Hyacinth was suddenly killed when a discus hit him in the head. The boy lay dieing in the arms of the God Apollo who was wailing in sadness. As the boy died a flower began to grow from the cut on his head. Some hyacinths apparently have a letter-like pattern on their petals which look like the "A" in Greek which some say stands for Apollo. I say apparently as I have never seen this pattern and I will have to wait until 2010 to check in my garden.

Hyacinths came to Germany from Turkey and then spread across the continent of Europe. A German doctor named collected samples of hyacinths when he visited Turkey in 1573 and brought them back to Germany. By the early 1700s hyacinths were wildly popular with thousands of varieties available.


According to ancient mythology, the Greek Gods Zeus & Hera loved one another so passionately and completely that the land where they lived became spontaneously littered with crocuses.

Crocuses were thought to have been brought to the United Kingdom from France and them spread across the rest of Europe and then later to North America. However, much like the hyacinth, my guess is that Greek mythology places their origin in Greece.

These are lovely stories and a wee bit of history about the spring flowering bulbs that help me be house proud.

Spring Bulbs

Be house proud by adding some outside colour to your springtime garden. To me not much is as exciting as watching my spring bulbs take on a life of their own. The colourful display starts in the middle of April and continues through until the end of June. During this period my garden changes from small dots of purple to areas of yellow to shades of red and then back to large flashes of purple. And the best thing about spring bulbs is that the beauty tends to multiply.

My first hint of spring are the hundreds of crocuses that poke their pretty heads through the melting snow and ice. Although crocuses are a favorite treat of squirrels I have managed to keep 30 or 40 returning every spring. Of course, this means I need to replenish from time to time.

The crocuses are accompanied by sweet little snow drops and some blue and white sqills. After the smaller bulbs are finishing the first act, the daffodils take over. Daffodils are my favorite of all spring bulbs for many reasons. They are durable and they multiply and spread faster than other types of bulbs which makes them a great investment. After a few years 7 daffodils can easily become a patch of 20 daffodils. Perhaps the feature I like best about daffies is that squirrels do not appear to like them much. This means that all of my hard work will be rewarded year after year.

There are literally hundreds of different types of daffodils. Some are yellow, some are white, some are orange, and some are pink. Others like my favorite variety called Tahiti are yellow with orange centres. Some varietals are miniatures that only reach about 6 inches while others are considered giants and almost reach 2 feet tall. The other wonderful aspect of daffodils is that different types bloom at different times during the spring. These are characterized as early, mid, or late bloomers. If planned properly a single yard can have a succession of different colours blooming at different points of the Spring with just using daffodils.

My other favorites include muscari and hyacinths and tulips and iris. Muscari and Irises are unappetizing to squirrels and multiply wildly which is a double benefit. A bed of combined yellow daffodils and purple muscari is beautiful. Hyacinths are very pretty and have a wonderful and unmistakable aroma. Tulips can be breathtaking but are prone to being squirrel lunch.

You will be rewarded by any bulb you decide to plant. The best time to plant bulbs is in late September to late October. Some types of tulips can be safely planted right up until the first hard frost of November. To give your bulbs a bit of energy for subsequent blooming in years to come add a pinch of bone meal to the planting hole. to give the bulb some protection from deer, squirrels and other bulb eating marauders also add a pinch of blood meal to the planting hole.

Spring bulbs are a wonderful way of showing your neighbors and your community that you care about your environment and are house proud.

I Am House Proud

I am house proud and have been so for a while. When I say "house proud" I mean a number of different things. I mean that I take a serious interest in how my house presents and I spend a lot of my free time arranging things in my house. Arranging things in my house is not work to the "house proud" it is a hobby.

I wasn't always this way. I went to university. I lived in a dump. I did not find any relaxation in cleaning and so I just didn't do much of it. It wasn't until, as an adult, my mother bought me some gift certificates with a cleaning service that I became house proud. I also retained the services of a cleaning lady on an ongoing basis and that helps.

Pride in your house can start with some small projects and expand into other areas. Start with organizing your front hall cupboard. that is an easy and logical place to start. Or maybe start with organizing your dishes. Start with matching dishes and add some special linen napkins.

Or start with some houseplants or some outside perennials. Spring bulbs are well worth the effort. Planting some inexpensive spring bulbs will reward you year after year. You can also force some spring bulbs inside over the winter months. Once forced the bulbs can't be forced again but they can be planted outside where nature will help them find their natural schedule.

Start small. If your initial house proud project is too overwhelming you will abort the task.

Whatever, you start with there are two exceeding important first steps. Without taking these two crucial first steps the journey to house pride will be arduous. The first step is to de-clutter your house. Start with your closets and then move on to the other areas of your house. This is a big task and will need to be done over several weekends. The aim is to get rid of approximately 20-25% of your clutter. Of course, this can't be done all at once. This task will need to be repeated every six to eight months over a few years. During the first effort aim to get rid of 5-10% of your clutter. Remember you will never be "house proud" if you are surrounded by junk.

The next step is to clean, clean, clean. Clean everything. Clean places likes the inside of closets that you do not normally clean. Take everything off shelves and dust thoroughly. Dust of of you lamp shades and light fixtures. Wash every wall. Launder all of your blankets and pillow covers. Steam clean all of your upholstered furniture and carpets. Empty everything from your fridge and give it a good scrub. Scrub your oven. Again, this task can't be done in one day. To do a thorough cleaning you should try to devote 4 solid hours over every weekend for at least a month. The first time you do the turbo-cleaning will be the most difficult and time consuming. Once everything is sparkling it is much easier to keep clean.

Once you have your house de-clutter and sparkling clean you can start being house proud. As I said at the beginning of this piece start small but the most important thing is to start. So get going with organizing your front hall closet .