We are now in the week of peak narcissus. They follow on neatly as the snowdrops go over and the primroses gather like a starry sky becoming visible as dusk descends into darkness. It is at dusk and in these dim, wet days that the wild daffodils are at their most luminous and welcome. A pale, soft yellow twist of outer petals with a darker trumpet to give the yellows depth, but not the glare of the golden host.   

Narcissus pseudonarcissus (main image) feels most at home here on our slopes, where there is shade enough for them not to have to compete with the grasses. They grow wild in the next valley over, where the mossy banks above the deep holloway of the lanes are strewn with them. Despite their stature, for they stand neatly at no more than a foot tall, they look down on you there and defiant of whatever March weather throws at them. And being naturalised, they appear to have moved easily, following the lie of the land that suits them.