Friday 17 January 2014

No Crowds Here

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host of golden daffodils.

Whilst shopping in Morrisons a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that they had daffodils for sale. I didn't buy any on that shopping trip, but last Friday when I had to pop in to Tesco for a few things for tea, I decided that I'd treat myself. I was so disappointed to find that they didn't have any. I absolutely love daffodils. They're such a simple spring flower, yet they're so cheerful, beautiful and make me smile.

What they did have for sale were these tulips. Can you believe that they were reduced, yet they hadn't even started to open out. They should have been £3 but I bought them for £1.50.


Now, I love tulips too, but I do like to start my spring cut flower displays with daffodils, followed by tulips at a later date. Mind you, I've still got geraniums and marigolds flowering in the garden so it seems everything's topsy turvy this year.


A little tip, if you want to keep your tulips standing up tall rather than drooping their pretty heads towards the ground, just prick the very top of their stems, right underneath the flower, with a pin. It works wonders.


I've just put the tulips in the brown garden waste bin this morning, so they lasted a full week. I don't think £1.50 is bad for a weeks worth of pleasure.

35 comments:

  1. Oh I do love a bargain. I seem to remember my grandmother saying something about pricking tulips with a pin to keep them upright. Funny the things you suddenly remember once reminded. Speaking of reminders have you remembered that Call the Midwife starts again this Sunday at 8. I was given a box set of series one and two and last years xmas special for my birthday, not that I'll get to have a recap session before hand but I shall be all ready cup of tea and a biscuit and my crochet in readiness.

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    1. I'm amazed that it works, but it does. I have remembered about the new series of Call The Midwife, and the new series of Mr. Selfridge is starting too. Happy days.

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  2. Lovely , and well worth £1-50! xx

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    1. They certainly brightened the house up. I'm amazed that supermarkets reduce flowers when they're still fresh, though I'm not complaining.

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  3. So funny Jo, I was going to buy some daffs today when I went shopping - and there were none!! So I bought tulips again - not a bargain like yours though! I wonder where all the daffs have gone? xx

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    1. I think they're in Morrisons, I wish I'd bought them when I saw them now. I'll be looking out for daffodils when I go shopping again, I'm looking forward to having some in the house.

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  4. Love the yellow tulips, they're beautiful.
    And thanks for the tip to keep their little stems up.
    Have a wonderful weekend...
    Susan x

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    1. They were really lovely, they had a pale pink line up the insides once they'd opened out. It's such a simple trick to keep the stems upright, I wish I'd known about it sooner.

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  5. Hi Jo,

    What a lovely burst of colour - much-needed at this time of year! I just picked up three potted hyacinths, one Jan Bos (gorgeous pinky-red), one white and one blue from the market. I am eagerly awaiting their blossoming!

    By the way, I'm going to be doing a photography challenge in February - the idea is a photo a day, though you don't have to post them daily if you don't have time, with prompts for each day, which can be as literal or figurative as you like. Would you like to join? I'll be posting all the details within the next week, so keep your eyes posted if you're interested :)

    Best wishes,

    Tash from vintagepretty.org

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    1. I think flowers can really brighten the house up, especially when the days are so dull, as they have been just lately. I love hyacinths, the scent is fabulous, so I don't know why I haven't had any in the house yet this year. I think I'll look out for some when I go shopping. Thank you for letting me know about your photography challenge. I don't usually join in with things like this as I get stressed so easily and it ends up taking the pleasure out of the things I enjoy, but I shall definitely watch out for the details on your blog and make my decision then.

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  6. Such a pretty colour Jo. Tulips usually seem to come in more vibrant colours, but these are beautiful.

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    1. They're a gorgeous colour. I do like the vibrant colours of tulips, but these are quite unusual and I love them.

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  7. Beautiful flowers and a great bargain too, so bright and cheerful in the home. Daffs are my favourite spring flower too, as you say bright cheerful and full of future promise

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    1. I would have preferred daffodils on this occasion but these tulips were a fabulous substitute. They were a great bargain, I can never understand supermarkets reducing them when they're nowhere near past their best.

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  8. Daffs are my favorite too. I'm lucky my birthday is in February so I always get a bunch. Yellow is my favorite colour, I love yellow roses in particular. Flowers certainly cheer the house up in this dreary weather

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    1. I think daffodils are so cheery and really brighten up the house. I love yellow flowers too, I got a beautiful pale yellow rose for Christmas, I'm looking forward to it flowering.

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  9. What else can you get for £1.50? Not a lot! And the yellow is gorgeous. I got my hyacinths from Morrisons as well. Must be the place for flowers at a reasonable price!

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    1. I think £1.50 is a small price to pay for the huge amount of pleasure which flowers bring me. I've found Morrisons to be a great place to buy flowers and plants, they even sell shrubs and bedding plants and they're usually very competitively priced.

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  10. We got a new Morrison's in our town just before Christmas and, so far, I'm quite impressed with it. I'll need to check and see if they have any daffies when I next go (bright and early on Sunday morning when it's lovely and quiet!).

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    1. I like Morrisons but we do have a bit of a drive to get to one so we don't shop there every week, but I do like to go every so often. There's certain things which I prefer to buy there than at other supermarkets.

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  11. Hi Jo, the tulips do look nice. In Harrogate I saw tulips and hyacinths for sale, thought I would get them before getting on the bus and forgot! Oh, well. Thanks for the tip will try it next time.

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    1. I love hyacinths but haven't bought any yet this year, I think I'll look for some when I go shopping. I couldn't believe that sticking a pin through the tulip's stem would make them stand up straight, but it does work, try it.

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  12. You do so well with the fresh flower bargains.
    What a pretty shade of yellow these ones are.
    You've got me yearning for daffs now, I shall keep my eye out for them later.
    Lisa x

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    1. I don't know if it's just our local supermarket which reduces flowers so readily but I do seem to hit on bargains quite often. I love the shade of these tulips, quite different from the bright yellow you usually see. I'm going to look out for some daffodils this weekend, they'll brighten up the dull day we've got again today.

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  13. A real bargain, Jo! Our daughter loves tulips so I always buy a bunch for her. thank you for the tip about the pin. My white roses that I bought from Aldi over the Christmas period are still going strong as they were in bud. I've cut down the stems a bit and added a few more of the pink rose buds from the garden that are also still producing.

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  14. That's a bargain, Jo! A lovely colour to brighten up these dull days. Thanks for the tip about the pin.

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    1. I think it was a bargain. I love the colour, a little more subtle than the bright yellows you often get tulips in. It's such a simple trick but it certainly keeps the tulips standing up tall.

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  15. hi jo
    the tulips looks nice. love the yellow.
    wish you a nice weekend,
    regina

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    1. They're a gorgeous shade of yellow, and once opened up they had a pale pink stripe running up the inside of them, so pretty.

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  16. Are the tulips out over there yet or are they from abroad? I got a catalogue yesterday with bulbs, so I'll definitely be buying some for the new garden. The tulips look lovely and hopefully you'll soon be able to buy daffs. Take care.

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    1. The tulips in my garden aren't out yet, nor are any of my other spring bulbs, though most of them are poking through the soil. I'm hoping to buy some daffodils today, it's been a really dull weekend so they should brighten up the house.

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  17. Your tulips are so cheerful. I bought some this week. Mine are red-orange with yellow at the edges. I've never seen that trick with the pin before, how interesting. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Your tulips sound really lovely, there's some beautiful colour variations. The pin trick really works, I'm so pleased that I found out about it.

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  18. Lovely.
    We had an odd spring last year and our Daffs did not do as well as they usually do. It is still to early for them, but I am looking forward to their appearance this year.

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    1. I always look forward to the daffodils blooming in spring. I love them in my home but they're beautiful just dotted along the verges or growing en masse. Something to look forward to.

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