"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? 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. 



