‘I wandered lonely as a cloud - That floats on high over vales and hills -When all at once I saw a crowd - A host of golden daffodils’, was penned in 1807 by William Wordsworth.
Back then there were just wild daffodils and natural hybrids planted in Roman times brought over from Iberia to commemorate loved ones and those who died in battle. Today there are over 27,000 varieties and cultivars which look very pretty but some are not much use for pollen and nectar for hungry insects coming out of hibernation this time of year.
Over 50 years ago as a child I remember relocating some unflowering daffodils from a place where time had forgotten but was then becoming busier. I had to excavate 12-14 inches deep to reach the bulbs. I have since learnt daffodils have a root tropism that draws them deeper in the soil every year. These then pre-dated breeders attempt to refashion them as their depth meant they had been there for hundreds of years.
Just by coincidence this year I came across another stand of daffodils of the same variety in a thick hedge not far from where a metal detectorist had found a line of roman coins and artefacts from that era.
The wild Treflach daffodil does not line the lanes but flourishes in quiet places where fauna can commune with it. Plants have a small negative charge as they root to the soil while insects have a positive charge so when the insect lands on the flower the positive and negative charge cancel each other out.
Our lanes aren't that busy but modern cars and high voltage overhead power cables create magnetic fields that confuse foraging habits – even for those foragers lucky enough not to be killed by in the slip stream of speeding traffic.