Robin and his friend Daffodil

Robin 1, originally uploaded by mumpenny.

This December 27, 2008 photo has spring written all over it in West Somerset, England. The photographer, mumpenny, has sent us this information:

The robin patrols our garden which is 400' above sea level on the warm red sandy soils of West Somerset, England, in the Vale of Taunton between the Quantock hills and Exmoor, right next to the West Somerset Railway. That day, where the sun had not touched it the frost still held; but the shelter of the south facing bank made it pleasant enough to sit in the sun on an upturned bucket, camera in one hand and trowel in the other, uncovering the early daffodil shoots - and tempting titbits for the robin.

Early daffodils in Sussex, England

Early daffodils, originally uploaded by GeorgieR.

Early, early, early daffodils.

The photographer, George Redgrave, comments on the Flickr page: Daffodils out on Boxing Day! (No trains are running in Britain today - this railway is no exception.)

George tells us the railway is a miniature one in Goff's Park, Crawley, Sussex (a summertime park railroad). He has added a map tag here.

Christmas daffodil in the Netherlands

in our garden / in onze tuin, originally uploaded by friedkampes.

The photographer, Fried Kampes, comments on this lovely and unusual photo: A christmas narcissus? Or is it just a scout for next spring? // 'n Kerstnarcis? of is het gewoon een verkenner voor de komende lente?

We wrote to Fried to ask if it this was a common sight at Christmas time, and Fried replies: I know it IS here , in the Netherlands, very uncommon for daffodils to bloom in this time of the year. That's why I was so surprised to see it this morning.

Chillin' in Washington State

I guess this will chill the daffodil bulbs, originally uploaded by PittiSing
This wintry scene was captured by PittiSing on December 21 in Washington.

PittiSing writes: "The photo is in Sammamish, Washington. And yes, feel free to look at the images when the daffs come up. I planted well over 100 pink ones and I hope they make it!"

Daffodils coming up - in England

Daffies!, originally uploaded by Rosie 55
We wrote to Rosie for permission to post this photo, and her reply: "Yes, that would be fine, though you will have to come back in a few weeks to see the flowers!"

And we will...

Rosie answered our question about the photograph with this detailed information:

These are in our front garden, which is at the Southern end of the County of Gloucestershire - about twenty miles North of the city of Bristol. That makes this area a little warmer than much of the UK. And they are shoots of either King Alfreds or white narcissi - which were interplanted by a previus owner. Here is a picture of daffodils in flower in the same position last year - flickr.com/photos/rosie55/2331873684/ which was taken on 9 March 2008.

December Spring

december spring, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

We're using the photographer's title of this December 17 photo because it is a perfect title. Mirona says this about the photo:

The photo is taken in our living room in London, yesterday. The daffodils have an amazing fragrance, which I believed until now that was only characteristic to white varieties. Both types of flowers were bought last Sunday at the Farmer's Market on Moxon Street, London (Marylebone).

Mirona has a quote on her flickr page, and it happily applies to her photography: I'm here to live out loud (Emile Zola).

Update: We wondered what is in the red bowl. Here's the answer from Mirona:

There is a floating purple candle in the red bowl, shaped like a snowflake. An early Christmas pressie :) from Habitat (London). It looks great but it doesn't burn so well... Here you can see it better:

farm4.static.flickr.com/3238/3118370476_8887673456_b.jpg

Christmas daffodils in Japan

From my yard..., originally uploaded by Pine57.

We wrote to Pine 57 in central Japan, asking about this wonderful seasonal photo taken on December 7. Here is the reply:

Thank you for noticing my super early daffodil photo. I've been noticing that this variety starts to bloom around Christmas-New Year in my backyard. December 7 is earlier than usual. The winter is mild in this region with snow only once every 7 years or so. Yesterday morning it was -0.5 C here, which is unusually cold for this area, so this winter may be the one for snow. I live in the central part of Japan, in Shizuoka Prefecture. My other daffodils will definitely bloom in spring, as they should.

In addition, we learned about two daffodil festivals in Japan, one beginning in a few weeks, and one likely in February. We'll post that information at daffodilfestivals.com. Thanks for all this super information, Pine 57!

Netherland daffodils

Is it too early to start talking about spring coming, especially since we haven't officially started winter?

This photo was taken by missgien, from her balcony in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Oh Really? in Marin County (California)

daffodils, originally uploaded by quince flower.

Just wondering: are daffodils ever out of season in California? We're not sure what the deal is here, and are trying to find out.

Update on December 4, 2008: We just spoke with someone at the Marin County Cooperative Extension and have learned that many naturalized daffodils do, in fact, bloom in the fall in the San Francisco area. Summer is too hot for daffodils. But autumn, these days, feels a lot like spring and the daffodils agree.

This photo was taken on December 2, 2008 by quince flower.

Planting daffodils in Morningside Park

October seems a long time ago.