Daisies Bloom in Literature as well as the Garden

Hothouse plants like orchids have symbolized love's extravagance. But especially in romantic literature, a more modest flower reigns supreme---the daisy. Henry James (Daisy Miller) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby), even  the formidable Goethe (Marguerite in his Faust, the German word for that flower), all borrowed it to name their heroines. Ditto for Toy Story 2 and Thomas the Tank Engine. Ancient Celts used an image of the daisy chain in their jewelry as a symbol of love. And it is from them we have the name, “day’s eye”, for the flower's habit of opening with the sun.

Daisies have always been a personal favorite of mine, whether growing wild in the ditches or in a cottage garden. One of our daughters was married within feet of Daisy Hill, a beloved spot in the community garden I help tend every summer. And what a labor of love it can be keeping that perennial (member of the same family as sunflowers) growing, especially in winters with hard freezes and little snow.

Though the daisy appears to be a single flower, it is really two. Petal-shaped florets form a ring around a center of disc-shaped florets. The Shasta Daisy with its showy white petals and prominent golden center is one of the most popular varieties.  As cut flowers, they last and last. A stand of those cheerful faces calls up memories of childhood’s past, garlands and endless games of love-me-love-me-not.  Living poetry.