“Watch this space”. We will be blogging the first daffodils soon. Our first photos will be posted in late December or early January.

Wishing for Peace on Earth in 2010 and a “plastic-bag-free planet”.

Daffodils, originally uploaded by flipperman75.

Photographer flipperman75 tells us about this image: Picture was taken on April 5, 2009 in Washington, DC, in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. Building in the background is the National Archives.

We rarely see daffodil photos from Washington, D.C. We are glad to see this majestic composition.

Or, we could say, we break for taxes. We’re taking a break from the First Daffodils 2009 blog while we dash around in a panic trying to get our paperwork done before April 15.

We will return as soon as possible, and we will be blogging until May 1.

We’ve been felled by a winter cold since mid-week so no posting, no nothin’. Sorry! Hopefully we can get back to this during the upcoming week. Lots of snowy daffodils, we’re sure.

I WANDER’D lonely as a cloud. Now that this blog is “officially open”, we’d like to call attention to our Daffodils note cube, which is sold on Amazon.com. Our love for the Wordsworth poem and our need for a pretty desk notepad led us to design and print the note cube pictured just to the right of this post. Here is our website, which has direct links to our product pages on Amazon.com. These note cubes sell and ship directly from Amazon. You may enjoy this note cube for many reasons. Here’s one: it’s a great way to memorize the Wordsworth poem, since it is written in its entirety on the note cube. It’s an excellent stress reliever when you’re on hold with the cable company.

If you do order the Daffodils note cube, we’d love to hear your comments here and also in the comments area of its Amazon page. Thanks!

This just in from Sharon Howell in Tennessee. This blog is officially “open” for 2009!

Dear I Spring:
It’s November 23 here in Tennessee and I have finished planting hundreds more daffodils around our house and in our woods. You may love these glorious flowers more than I do, but I doubt it! Seriously, aren’t they just too beautiful for words, though Wordsworth certainly captured their essence. When we left our house in the Boston suburbs and the about 60 daffs in the front flower bed, I was determined to have many more down here, as many as I could plant. Each year I’ve added more and more, and now cannot wait until Spring!
Keep going with your project. The photos add so much cheer to your viewers.
All the best to you,
Sharon Howell

Thanks for visiting the First Daffodils blog in 2008. A special thanks, also, to all of the photographers who permitted us to use their daffodil photographs on these pages. Most of all, a round of applause to the daffodils around the world, “who” gave us so much joy as we watched spring arrive.

Now that the daffodils in the Northern Hemisphere have had their time in the sun (and the snow), we’ll have to find other occupations to fill our time until the daffodils come out next spring.

We will post some additional photos from 2008 sometime this summer. Then we’ll take a break until January 2o09. Thanks again for stopping by, and see you next year.

Day Dreaming photo used with permission, courtesy of tmalinski

The spectacular daffodil images just keep on coming. We contacted the photographer, Tom Malinski of the Canton Camera Club, curious about the story behind this photo, and here is what he reports:

This image was taken at the Laurel Ridge Foundation in Litchfield, Connecticut – better known as the Daffodil fields in Northfield. My wife and I visit this place with many of our camera club friends every year. Depending on the weather, the scenic fields with the pond in the background can have many different moods. This photo of a couple sitting in the middle of the flowers holding hands and daydreaming was very touching.

This image was taken on May 4, 2008.

Lochmaddy daffodils photo used with permission, courtesy of scotproof

Another beautiful “daffodils and water” photo from Scotland, courtesy of scotproof. This pretty image was taken on May 2 at Lochmaddy (in Scottish Gaelic, “Loch of the dogs”) in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.

photo used with permission, courtesy of Mike Organ

We’ve just discovered more beautiful gardens, Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. This image was taken on April 27, 2008.

spring photo used with permission, courtesy of (not a) token gesture

We really like this photo, which looks like it was taken at night. It was actually taken at 10 AM o 2003. It’s in Wordsworth territory, in the Lake District, in Grasmere. We have had only one Lake District photo this year, so we vote to include this one.

open to daffodils photo used with permission, courtesy of maryam momeni

Very nice! This is one of the most artistic Daffodil Windows we’ve seen in 2008. The stunning architecture is enhanced by the daffodils arrangement, and we can’t take our eyes off this photograph.

Photo taken by photographer maryam momeni on April 6, 2008 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Springtime photo used with permission, courtesy of daveblyth1

Pretty daffodils image taken April 19, 2008. Lots of pretty English countryside in daveblyth1′s photostream here.

Baddesley Clinton photo used with permission, courtesy of Nala Rewop

Photographer Nala Rewop has posted this Baddesley Clinton photo which seems bathed in an historic light. As he notes, “This atmospheric house dates from the 15th century and has changed little since 1634.”

We’ve always wanted to live in a moated manor house.

Image taken on March 30, 2008. The daffodils add a springtime radiance to the composition, which is why we think this photo positively “rocks” (or should we say, “moats”).

Spring River photo used with permission, courtesy of slipgrove (Dr. Julia Targ)

Here is another sweet, beautiful image of Chicago Botanic Garden daffodils, taken on May 2, 2008 by Dr. Julia Targ.

Click here for information about the Chicago Botanic Garden, and if you are into daffodils, start planning your visit there in April 2009, when the American Daffodil Society holds its annual convention hosted by the Chicago Botanic Garden.

For some of the best botanic garden photos we’ve seen, check out Dr. Julia Targ’s flickr photostream of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Spring 2008.

Snowman photo used with permission, courtesy of Fe em Brasil.
This snowman lived just outside the town of Watford in the South of England, until the sun came out one day. Thanks to Fe em Brasil for an imaginative shot.

The image was taken on April 6, 2008.

daf odils photo used with permission, courtesy of emmar

Now we know what “pretty as a picture” means. This very pretty image was taken on April 20, 2008, in Queen’s Park, Glasgow, Scotland.

For a high resolution image, click here.

Laidlehope Burn photo used with permission, courtesy of cessna152towser

Daffodils in wild country always get our attention. We love brooks and daffodils, and we totally love this photograph. The photographer, cessna152towser, tells us the photo was taken in Scotland within a few miles of the English border.

Question: is it “not wild” if it is a man-made earthwork, even if it dates back to 1860? Click here for more history about Laidlehope Burn.

We exchanged emails about the wild daffodils, and cessna152tower has this to add: “There are quite a lot of daffodils along the road verges in this area but I wonder how many are truly wild – along the old country roads, bulbs were often planted by farmers and on modern roads they are often planted as part of the landscaping works.”

This image was taken on April 30, 2008.

Daffodils photo used with permission, courtesy of Aleeka Salaam

This dreamy photo was taken by Aleeka Salaam on March 29, 2008, at Belton House in Lincolnshire, UK. Belton House is a National Trust building with expansive park grounds.

This photograph, with its painting-like texture, would be very much at home in a national art museum. A shout-out to Vanessa Ho for the texture, says Aleeka.

., originally uploaded by mariae baltica.

Not much yellow in this photo except in our imaginations. Good enough! This supports the idea that black and white photographs can be quite compelling even in Springtime. Image taken at Kew Gardens in London on April 17, 2008.

Passage through Birch, originally uploaded by slipgrove.
Photo credit: Dr. Julia Targ

This photograph is one of many beautiful images taken this season at the Chicago Botanic Garden by Dr. Julia Targ. We love the combination of “new” birch and daffodils, grey and yellow. Photo was taken on April 25, 2008.

April 29th, 2008 – 89:366, originally uploaded by allisonac.

We love the wild look of this photo, with a bit of organizing provided by the rock border. We agree with the photographer, allisonac, that this is a stunning image. Photo was taken on April 29, 2008, near Twin Lakes, Connecticut.

give her the nod, originally uploaded by leftantler.
We love this Vancouver photo. It is artistically a home run, combining daffodils and an urban landscape into an image as pleasing as daffodil meadows and daffodil hills. Image taken on April 17, 2008, in George Wainborn Park.

Butterfly In Camo, originally uploaded by glenda.suebee.

This delightful image was taken on April 19, 2008, in the photographer’s garden in Waverly, Ohio. The camo is pretty cool.

Long and winding road, originally uploaded by swishphotos.

We admire this photo taken in Aberdeen, Scotland, on April 29, 2008. Lucky lawnmower.