Here, bobbing eagerly in yesterday’s light rain, are the first daffodils that I’ve seen blooming in the neighborhood. Daffodils always seem as happy as puppies to be back.
Daffodils usually are the first popularly-known planted flowers to bloom after the cold gray of winter. Thus, they’ve come to symbolize rebirth, resurrection, and/or hope for many. They’re perennials of various species in the amaryllis family, which makes them part of the narcissus genus.
Many people call them “jonquils,” but, as I understand it, jonquils are a specific species (Narcissus jonquilla) within the genus and “daffodil” is the collective name for all of the species that look ready to play something joyful on their frilled trumpets.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 22, 2025; background eliminated in first image.)