Daffodil

Daffodils,

That come before the swallow dares,

and take

The winds of March with beauty.

The Winter's Tale 4.3

Elizabethans enjoyed this early spring blooms simply for their beauty; dozens of varieties were sold at the market in Cheapside. Shakespeare’s London neighbor John Gerard, author of the most famous herbal guide of the time, lists more than a dozen varieties of daffodils in 1597.