# Dopers in Ireland - are Daffodils typically in bloom by March there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719 "2011-03-07T00:37:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/1 "2011-03-07T00:37:14Z")
The title says it all. Where I grew up, the daffodils were typically not out until May. Even here in Ontario, Canada, April is a better rule of thumb. What about Ireland? I’m working on a song based on a Samuel Beckett poem. The first stanza - Thither A far cry For one So little Fair daffodils March then. would seem to imply the double sense that the daffodils are marching ‘thither’ across the landscape, and that their appearance heralds the month of March. Am I vaguely right? Please confirm or deny… ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/2 "2011-03-07T01:40:27Z")
I can’t speak for Ireland, but my partner’s near Portsmouth, England, and he says his daffs are going like mad at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/3 "2011-03-07T12:09:45Z")
Can’t speak for Ireland either, but I once went to London in March. Two days before I left Sweden we had a blizzard. When I arrived in England it felt like summer and there were daffodils everywhere in the parks. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/4 "2011-03-07T14:23:29Z")
In Portland, OR our daffodils start popping up here pretty soon. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/5 "2011-03-07T14:39:19Z")
I’m in Dublin and we have daffodils in our back garden. The first one bloomed a couple of days ago, and a few more are getting ready. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/6 "2011-03-07T15:01:05Z")
I work beside St. Stephen’s Green in the centre of Dublin. It’s a beautiful day here so I just took a walk over to the Green and took the following pic. So yeah they’re blooming > **[ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](https://imageshack.com/)** > > Unlimited space to host images, easy to use image uploader, albums, photo hosting, sharing, dynamic image resizing on web and mobile. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/7 "2011-03-07T16:32:32Z")
Not really in the OP’s territory but as a data point, I’m in north Texas and the early-blooming varieties are over already! Late-blooming varieties of both daffs and tulips are going strong, though - they musta liked the unseasonable cold winter we had. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/8 "2011-03-07T16:43:49Z")
They are blooming in our garden, in Dublin. Dont worry though, I will put some lime on them later, should sort that out. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/9 "2011-03-07T19:40:12Z")
Many thanks for your responses - just to confirm, there’s nothing atypical about this year, is there? Unusually warm weather early on, something like that? It’s just that whimsy is such a strange thing to find in Samuel Beckett’s work. It really does seem, though, that the image of an army of daffodils marching across the landscape as the avant garde of spring was what he was after. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/10 "2011-03-07T20:35:40Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Many thanks for your responses - just to confirm, there’s nothing atypical about this year, is there? Unusually warm weather early on, something like that? > > It’s just that whimsy is such a strange thing to find in Samuel Beckett’s work. It really does seem, though, that the image of an army of daffodils marching across the landscape as the avant garde of spring was what he was after. If anything, it’s been colder than usual. Remember, the UK and Ireland get the gulf stream so are warmer than most other places on the same latitude. It’s common for daffodils to bloom in February in London. [This](http://www.wordsun.com/assets/raw-1-1184328112.jpg) is what my university in North London looks like at this time of year; that might be the type of thing he was thinking of. But the ‘march then,’ besides being a pun, of course, seems to me pretty dismissive - looking at this beautiful sight, shrugging his shoulders and muttering ‘oh. It’s March, then.’ ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/11 "2011-03-08T00:56:29Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Many thanks for your responses - just to confirm, there’s nothing atypical about this year, is there? Unusually warm weather early on, something like that? Totally normal. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-in-ireland-are-daffodils-typically-in-bloom-by-march-there/573719/12 "2011-03-08T01:04:18Z")
Just to clarify. Normal that they are blooming. Not the weather as we had a very very cold start to the year.