Daffodils Along Our Stone Wall

The last few years I’ve been planting a gift for Future Me to enjoy – daffodils along the stone wall that runs the length of our property.

This stone wall “protects” our property from the road, meaning it’s very visible to anyone who drives by, so I’d like to think these daffodils are a gift for my neighbors too. Everyone likes daffodils, right? Surely they must be one of the least controversial things on this planet.

I put the word protects in quotes in the above paragraph because I’m not sure how much a 2-foot tall stone fence or wall really protects us from anything. The mailman and the deer just hop over it, but at least the mailman avoids my plants. What’s more troubling is that the stone wall is in the public utility right-of-way, as is our well. So, that’s…great. Just great.

But let’s not get bogged down in problems that will probably never happen. Let’s focus on what’s more of a guarantee – that’s daffodils pop up year after year marking the start of spring with their cheery yellow blooms. Hurray for nature automatically give us a much needed dose of dopamine!

One thing I have noticed is that daffodils are extremely hearty little bulbs. They take that adage “bloom where you are planted” very seriously.

We have routinely and unknowingly dug up daffodil bulbs, tossed them in our brush pile and come spring I’ll have beautiful daffodils sprouting out of a mound of discarded debris.

Just because a daffodil can bloom in a brush pile doesn’t mean it’s the best place for it to flourish longterm. When I spot one of these rogue blossoms, I dig it up and move it to a place in front of our stone wall.

I have a goal that, eventually, daffodils will bloom along the entire length of our roadside stone wall, which is maybe 150-feet long. Can you picture it? I can and it’s going to be amazing.

It’s already pretty epic!

Did you know daffodils multiply on their own? I have a front row seat to this occurrence as the daffodils have started growing away from the wall and in our lawn.

This year I was on a mission to relocate all of those bulbs in the lawn. I’m sure there’s a proper time to dig them up, but I have to do it while I can see where the bulbs are located and while I’m motivated to spend some time digging. Plus, I know from experience that it’s very hard to kill daffodils.

How many bulbs did I dig up this year? I don’t know. I stopped counting at 100 bulbs and my pile was still huge. I estimate that I dug up at least 200 bulbs of varying sizes.

I spread them out over an approximately 40-foot section of our stone wall. I have another 25-feet to go before bulbs have been planted the entire length of the roadside wall.

Most of the bulbs I dug up this year had not flowered. There can be a variety of reasons for this travesty to have occurred such as the bulbs are grouped too close together, poor soil conditions, or frost damage.

However, I learned from the American Daffodil Society that it can take up to five years for new daffodil bulbs to flower, so that’s probably what’s going on here.

I also learned that there’s an American Daffodil Society.

The bottom line is I’m playing the long daffodil game.

Planting these daffodils feels like an investment in future hope and happiness. Not only will I be able to enjoy these daffodils in years to come, but it’s a tender way of paying it forward to whoever lives here after we do.

I vividly remember the first spring we lived here and the excitement I felt when I saw daffodils coming up in various areas of our property. Someone planted those, maybe decades before, and I now got to enjoy them. After a long, cold winter it felt like the most precious gift from someone I had never met.

Have you heard of the Next Seven Again principle? It is held by many indigenous people across the world such as the Iroquois, Worimi, and Māori.

The Next Seven Again principle “holds that you are responsible not only for yourself or your immediate family, but for carrying the knowledge and responsibility of past generations into seven generations ahead.” That means thinking about how what you do impacts your great-grandchildren’s great, great-grandchildren.

Frankly, I stink at the Next Seven Again principle on most topics. However, with these daffodils, I’d like to think that generations from now will be enjoying them. Same goes for the trees we plant or the repointing we are doing to save the buildings on our property from ruin.

Believe it or not, I didn’t intend to get philosophical when I started writing this blog post. I was just excited (per usual) about my daffodils and wanted to share them with you, but sometimes writing about something helps me understand my motivations. Funny how that works.

Do you love daffodils as much as I do? Do you think about future generations when you plant something in your yard? Give me all the dirt! You can always comment on this blog post, email me here, or reach out via Instagram or Facebook.

Happy Spring.

P.S. We are hoping to rebuild parts of our stone walls this year. It’s become one of those “if not us, then who” situations as the walls are slowly deteriorating. Rising material costs and time are our biggest factors as to whether or not that will get done. *crosses fingers and toes*

P.P.S. You saw our Gorilla cart in the above pictures. We prefer it with its 4 wheels over a regular wheelbarrow. However, make sure you spend the extra little bit of money on the version that has ‘no flat’ tires. Otherwise, you’ll end up spending more money replacing tires over time. Ask me how I know. GAH!!!

Thanks for getting into the weeds with me today. I appreciate you! If you’d like another blog post to read, I’ve got you covered. 

Living in Ireland: Spring Flowers in Our Yard

Fieldstone Porch for our Stone Carriage House

What a View – Oregon House

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