A-Z Challenge 2013 - 'N' - Narcissus

My A-Z posts this year are based on my garden – flowers, animals, the birds and the bees, butterflies - with a bit of poetry thrown in. For some letters I am expecting to cheat somewhat – wishing they were here.

N – Narcissus, Nicotiana, Nuthatch, Newt

Although we have daffodils (D) in the garden they are outnumbered by a long way by this more delicate flower. Normally they flower in April but this cold winter and spring has delayed their appearance.

Narcissus

Given that Narcissus the youth was the vainest of the vain, are we right to assume that the Narcissus flower represents vanity?

Nicotianas on the other hand are ideal for decorative pots and are available in a variety of colours.

Nicotianas

Some birds are difficult to see and even more difficult to photograph; the tree creeper is one such and here is another we rarely see.

Nuthatch

The nuthatch he so agile be

As head first he descends the tree

 Although it’s quite common for us to see young frogs, newts are far from common; there are some in next door’s pond. Shakespeare’s witches might have problems here to fulfill their recipe.

In the caldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Common Newt

 Newts and blind worms do no wrong.

If gardeners need reminding of that, then they should also follow this advice:-

When the newt on my boot

Asked me not to pollute

I told him I’d give it a try.

Poems/Quotations:

• The Nuthatch – James Charteris
• Eye of Newt – Macbeth, Second Witch – William Shakespeare
• Newts – Midsummer’s Night Dream – William Shakespeare
• When the newt… - Joe Mohr

Photos:

• Nuthatch – Tony Hisgett, Birmingham – CC BY-SA 2.0 – Upload Magnus Manske
• Newt – Silverstrpher, Scotland – CC BY-SA 2,0 – Upload Sandy Rae