54 
11 o u s e 
& (/ a r d e u 
THE ADAPTABLE DAFF 
O NE of the most 
fascinating things 
about plants to me is 
their adaptability. You 
can get a hundred and 
one different effects with 
the same plant if you are 
but keen enough to real¬ 
ize all its possibilities. 
Take the daffodil, for 
instance! It has a way 
of adapting itself to all 
manner of uses. It can 
be planted in clumps or 
drifts, in decorative rows 
or solid masses and is as 
happy in the smallest 
garden border as in the 
great woodland. 
The daffodil is one of 
the most familiar flow¬ 
ers. As the first great 
herald of spring it is 
especially precious. It 
is a very old flower, 
growing wild in many 
places, even in the Ori¬ 
ent. It is well beloved 
by the poets from Words¬ 
worth to Masefield, as is 
well known. These 
poets see daffodils as 
they have become natur¬ 
alized in their fields and 
woodland, thousands 
upon thousands growing 
together in strong, solid 
masses that fade away in 
a golden blur in the dis¬ 
tance. They see the grass 
dotted blue-gray with 
daffodil leaves and the 
golden bloom spread out 
below the trees still bare 
in early spring-time. 
Naturalizing 
We can naturalize daf¬ 
fodils in this way, plant¬ 
ed by the ten thousands 
in long drifts that re¬ 
mind us of the long 
evening shadows or of 
cloud shadows that wan¬ 
der over the hill. 
Naturalized daffodils 
seem best adapted to cul¬ 
tivated woods on slightly- 
undulating ground and 
where there are long vis¬ 
tas, but many a wild 
place, large or small, Can 
be planted with them,— 
a pasture by the brook, 
the sides of a road 
through open woods or 
groves, an orchard, a 
hillside just beyond the 
garden wall. 
Think of daffodils 
wandering up a steep 
hillside! You plant 
This Early Herald, of Spring Can Be Planted Formally or 
Informally and Is Dependable for Good Results 
ELSA REHMANN 
A naturalized plant¬ 
ing of daffies has 
been made here at 
the base of a rock 
ledge. They are 
perfectly at home 
in this corner and 
harmonize well with 
the other spring 
flowers close about. 
Marian C. Coffin, 
landscape architect 
Naturalized in a 
field, daffodils give 
a bright spot of 
color in early spring 
and will continue 
their yield for sev¬ 
eral years. Marian 
C. Coffin, landscape 
architect 
Daffodils and hyacinths are used in a repeat pattern along this formal garden path. The 
hyacinths are light blue, buff, cream and pink; the daffies, Victoria, Emperor, and the 
old-time Barrii conspicuus , 
O D I L 
them first in little bends, 
then in sweeping curves, 
hundred upon hundred, 
until they lose them¬ 
selves in the woods 
above. Every now and 
again you bring them 
back toward the garden, 
let them peep over the 
retaining wall or even 
let them show themselves 
within the garden bor¬ 
ders. Then you let them 
mount the hillside again, 
first clustered around a 
big tree trunk, then in 
wide circles around it, 
like a host of little chil¬ 
dren in a dance, play¬ 
fully breaking away, 
again and again, from 
the circle, and then, of a 
sudden, fleeing up the 
hillside and away. 
In the Garden 
And then daffodils are 
just as happy in the gar¬ 
den. I have seen them 
in a quaint stilted row on 
the very edge of a curv¬ 
ing flower border. They 
were “Emperor” daffo¬ 
dils and each flower dis¬ 
played its great trumpet 
as if it were a stenciled 
pattern. I have seen 
them planted in clumps 
of twenty-five or more 
beside forsythia—on tip¬ 
toe, as it were, to touch 
the pendant golden bells. 
I have seen them in slen¬ 
der groups showing 
against dark cedars, and 
again in great masses, 
wandering through broad 
borders accompanied by 
other spring flowers, by 
fairy-like grape hya¬ 
cinths along the edge of 
the lawn and by Merten- 
sias with their nodding 
bells in the background. 
I have seen them ar¬ 
ranged like a short melo¬ 
dy of yellow notes in 
back of a line of purple 
Iris pumila, and still bet¬ 
ter is their companion¬ 
ship with the pale yel¬ 
low variety of these 
dwarf irises. Or again, 
they were arranged in 
longish masses, the flow¬ 
ers close together and 
overlap] >ing one another 
in front of the filmy 
blur of Scotch Brier 
twigs which have not yet 
come into leaf. I have 
(Continued on page 901 
