Daffodils

It was all an illusion, in retrospect - a theatrical moment that thrilled us while it lasted but then was done. And gone. October in Maryland used to mean fall, but in 2007 October was as warm as September and as dry as Nevada. It was an extended holiday for rakers; the leaves stayed put and stayed green, or at least greenish. The audience - that was us - began to grow restless. A few brave actors came out in front of the curtain to do a turn before the long-delayed show could begin, but come Halloween, who didn't think that fall this year was destined to flop?

ON THIS BEAUTIFUL spring day, with all the daffodils in bloom and the cherry trees and magnolias redplendent, it is chastening to reflect what all this exuberance means to the plant kingdom: absolutely nothing.For the appalling truth is that this great twin trunk of the Tree of Life, vegetation, though it has been extraordinarily successful in developing countless species covering almost the entire surface the earth, is totally unconscious of its achievement.The daffodils may, as Wordsworth exulted, be ''tossing their heads in sprightly dance,'' but it is he and his species that enjoy them, whether in ''the bliss of solitude'' or strolling in their thousands among the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington.

Alan Eason stepped out of his Catonsville home yesterday morning to snap photographs of his newly bloomed daffodils - covered in snow. "I didn't truly believe it," he said, as he finished taking pictures of a tub of snow-covered pansies. The Baltimore region awoke to the surprising sight of snow-covered lawns and vehicles yesterday, with up to 2 inches in some areas. The temperature at Baltimore-Washington International Airport plunged from 78 degrees at 1 p.m. Saturday to 34 degrees by 7 a.m. yesterday.

Parental guidance lackingUpon entering a movie recently, my first thought was "I must be in the wrong theater." Looking around, I saw many children, seemingly ranging in ages four to eight.The movie was definitely rated "R" and I just could not imagine how any parents would feel comfortable in a movie (with that rating) sitting beside their children.Every day we read things that have happened to our children, in the news, on TV, in our schools. Can we blame the children? What about the management of these theaters?

Crocuses and daffodils are popping through the mulch, and there are blossoms on some azaleas, rhododendrons and cherry trees. You might think spring is bursting into bloom across the region. Twenty-four straight days of above-average temperatures, and one of the mildest Baltimore Decembers on record, have confused the dickens out of the plant world. Plant experts say the premature growth is not a danger to the plants and trees, but early blossoms could mean a less colorful show when spring - real spring - arrives in March.

It's past their bedtime, and growing things need their rest.But this fall, balmy temperatures have kept some of Maryland's flowering plants wide awake and sprouting buds and blooms out of season.And garden specialists warn that a sudden nose-dive by the thermometer, plus the continuing dearth of rain, could mean that gardens will not blaze quite as brilliantly this spring."Potentially what happens with a lot of the flowering shrubs, for example, is they'll come completely out of dormancy and they'll lose a lot of their cold tolerance," said Scott M. Aker, the state extension service's urban agriculture agent for Howard County.

Gardeners are forever looking for something to wrap a flower bed around. There has to be a bed along the front of the porch, and others might be carved out around a garden shed, a birdbath or the trunks of shade trees. For many people, there's another opportunity right out by the curb: the mailbox. A garden bed around a mailbox gives gardeners a chance to put their horticultural stamp where it's sure to show. In the midst of handsome shrubs, interesting ornamental grasses or hard-working annual and perennial flowers, a standard-issue mailbox on a post becomes a piece of functional art. When there's a flower bed to visit, the trip out to the mailbox is much more interesting, even if the postman brings nothing but bills.

The American Cancer Society will hold its Daffodil Days community kickoff from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Anne Arundel Medical Center. For the past 30 years, Daffodil Days has helped raise money to support the fight against cancer. The campaign, which extends until early March, offers daffodils and stuffed bears to donors in appreciation of their contributions. Daffodil Days is coming to Anne Arundel County from March 10 to March 16, with deliveries being made later that month. The goal for 2008 is to raise more than $100,000.

A gooey orange growth with tentacles is attached to a branch of our cedar tree. It's cold and soft to the touch. Please tell us what steps to take. That orange golf ball-sized "fruit" is the spore-producing mass of cedar apple rust, a fungal disease. The rust disease life cycle alternates its hosts, moving from cedar to apple, quince or hawthorne. (Cedar, in this instance, refers to junipers, often the Eastern Red Cedar.) Control involves separating alternate hosts by a distance of one to two miles (when practical)

Wonder and hope are at the root of the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days, March 15 and 16. The society is now taking orders for daffodils, 10 to a bunch, $7 per bunch. The society wants to put 86,000 daffodils, symbols of hope, in Anne Arundel County homes, offices, churches, schools, and hospital rooms.Last year, Daffodil Days raised $29,354 in this area for cancer care and services. This year, the society wants to raise $34,200. That's not a lot for an unusually high cancer rate. The society wants to encourage multiple purchases -- orders of five or more bunches -- and will deliver the daffodils anywhere in the county on March 15 or 16. The flowers also will be available on the street March 16, 17, and 18.Think about the extraordinarily fresh scent of a daffodil, then multiply it by 50, or 100. Have a lap full delivered to someone you love, someone to whom you owe an apology, someone who needs cheering.