"THE SWEET O' THE YEAR" 117 



"In the daffodil the leaves and stems are of a full 

 glaucous green, a color not only cool and refreshing 

 in itself, but strongly suggestive of water, the most 

 apparent source of freshness and constituting a most 

 delicious groundwork for the bright, lively yellow 

 of the blossoms. Now what sort of spathe would be 

 likely to contribute best to this remarkable effect of 

 the flower 4 ? Should the colors be unusually striking 

 or the size increased, or what? Strange to say, in 

 both Daffodil and Pheasant's Eye (Poet's Narcis- 

 sus) we find the spathe dry and withered, shrivelled 

 up like a bit of thin brown paper and clinging round 

 the base of the flowers. We cannot overlook it, and 

 most assuredly we were never meant to do so. Noth- 

 ing could have been more beautifully ordered than 

 this contrast, there being just sufficient to make us 

 appreciate more fully that abounding freshness of 

 life. 



"It is a plant which affords a most beautiful con- 

 trast, a cool, watery sheet of leaves with bright, 

 warm flowers, yellow and orange, dancing over the 

 leaves like meteors over a marsh. The leaves look 

 full of watery sap, which is the life blood of plants 

 and prime source of all their freshness, just as the 

 tissues of a healthy child look plump and rosy from 

 the warm blood circulating within. 



