My one-time gardening guru Lee Bailey, in his exquisite book ‘Country Flowers‘ went on in rapture about the loveliness of a few new pink-cupped Narcissus. At the time I was entirely under his spell (this was in the pre-teen years of the mid to late 80’s) and so I begged my Mom to order a few for fall planting. After putting them in at the entrance to a little forest path lined with slate stone, I eagerly anticipated their show all through the winter. The following spring they poked through the ground, and bloomed in just the enchanting way Bailey had described – not quite a true pink, but a pink brushed with shades of peach and apricot. This color changed and evolved – some went into the more traditional pink, but always lined at the edge with a bit of something warmer – and some stayed a lovely shade of peach. Either way, it was a welcome variation from the yellow to which we’ve al grown quite accustomed.
These days whenever I see pink-cupped Narcissus in a garden store I’ll pick up a bag and plant them in memory of Lee, hence this pretty creature who defied the recent snow and cold to boldly throw a bit of beauty into our neglected side yard. I love the barely-discernible accent of green in the throat – pink always goes so nicely with green.
