Poor Daffodils

Last summer, you might recall, we had a nice young man do some yard work.

My 'flower garden' out front has been overgrown since before we moved in, and getting worse each year. Finally, in a desperate attempt to gain some control, we asked this young man who was looking for outdoor work to whack out the tiny trees, cover everything but the Big Plants with weed barrier, and bury it all in mulch. He did a great job, and it looked much better afterwards.* Maintainable, even.

I was surprised to see some crocus-like plants and tulips and a daffodil or two poking through the weed barrier and mulch. I didn't know if they were just opportunistic and had found small holes to grow through.

But my big clump of daffodils from years past did not poke through.

We did the burying of things in late summer when there was no longer any clear sign of where the daffodils had been. I think. Rather than just poke around or guess, we just had him cover over anything that wasn't well established on those days he was working.

Today I was feeling sad that we'd inadvertently covered the big clump of daffodils (which, I suppose, need to be divided? Is that right, anyone?)

I had, however, seen a huge heap of mulch near the edge of the driveway. I figured it was from when we shoveled too near the edge in the winter, and I must've shoved all the mulch into a heap.

Anyway, today I decided I'd look for the daffodils and try to cut them a little hole, if I could find them, even though my poked-through ones were already budding. Maybe it wasn't too late to save The Big Clump.

And when I looked closely at the mulch heap, I realized it wasn't a mulch heap. It was a giant lump under the weed barrier. I could see a little yellowish green through thin spots.

It was The Big Clump itself, desperately trying to break through.

I set it free.

Two children watched in wonder as we freed The Big Clump which had pushed its way up into a giant lump under the barrier and mulch.

I hope I freed we in time for it to bloom.

I thought the varied yellow and green and trapped curls of the leaves were nifty looking. Don't you?

* Did I never blog the before and after of his hard work? I couldn't find an entry of it. I took pictures and intended to! He really did nice work! And he was a very nice young man, honest and hard working, too!