It was real pleasure to see so many people at this years Daffodil Day and to
share in an interview with Pam Rhodes something of the work that Methodist
Women in Britain is doing at this time, including Ruth’s period poverty project. I
have since been told of other churches who are hoping to take this up. The hall
decorated with so many lovely daffodils made an amazing backdrop for the
day.
Of course purists will say that daffodils are really narcissi and related to the
amaryllis. In some parts of the country they are called Lent Lilys as their
flowering period coincides with Lent and Easter. It is believed that daffodils
were the flowers referred to
in the Old Testament by Solomon as the Rose of Sharon.
“I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley” Song of Solomon 2.1
Daffodils were later adopted as a symbol of eternal life, rebirth and
resurrection by the early Christians.
Daffodils were brought to this country by the Romans and used as floral
tributes but we have the Rev George Herbert Engleheart to thank for the
many varieties available to us today. As well as his duties as a clergyman he
was a keen amateur archaeologist and daffodil grower. It is recorded that on
occasions his congregation came to church to find a notice stating that there
was no service that morning as their Vicar was working with the daffodils. I am
sure there was a sermon in there somewhere. It is estimated that there are
now twenty seven thousand varieties of cultivated daffodils available.
