The Earth Laughs in Flowers

1. jonquil honey, 2. Skagit valley daffodils, 3. A Jonquil Morning, 4. Jonquils!, 5. narcissus, 6. Min Daffodil, 7. Jonquils, 8. daffodils, 9. Pastel Jonquils

With a little help from Out Back and The Burtonesque Garden, I am fairly certain that the pretty little flowers that pop-up in my garden each July - August are Jonquils, also known as Bunch-Flowered Narcissus.

I've been doing a bit of reading on Jonquils ever since, and Yates' Garden Guide has, once again, been a faithful little reference for all my gardening needs. I want to dig up the bulbs and relocate, as at the moment there is no organisation to them. I've learnt that I need to wait for the stems to die off naturally after flowering before I attempt to move them, and the best time to plant is in Autumn (10cm deep and 10cm apart).

Google and FlickR have provided stunning examples of how great Jonquils look when in bloom, whether they are on lawns, grassy slopes, in rock gardens, or in clumps around other plants. I've also discovered that they come in a number of colours, although the most common are cream or white blooms with a yellow centre (the ones found in my garden), or an orange-red centre surrounded by gold petals.

I must admit that there is not much sweeter than to walk out into the garden in the middle of a frost-bitten Winter and see these gorgeous bulbs in bloom.