DAFFODILS
Dancing Flowers and Whirligigs
DAFFODILS, yellow as sunshine, always come with the beautiful
springtime. The blossoms of the single daffodils, with their tall,
golden cups resting in the saucers of lighter-colored petals, are
the daintiest, though both single and double are so like a song of
cheerfulness it is a joy to have them near. They look as if they wanted
to dance for sheer happiness and, wonder of wonders, you can actually
make them dance.
[Illustration: Fig.106 - The Daffodil Dancer.]
[Illustration: Fig.107 - The Daffodil Animal.]
Gather a few of the single daffies, leaving on them the very short
stems which hold them to the main stalk. These little green stems will
be the stiff ornaments at the top of the dancers' green caps when you
turn the flowers upside down, which is right side up for the dancers.
Daffodil Dancers
To make a flower stand alone and give it feet to dance on, push three
wooden toothpicks firmly up under the little yellow skirt into the
centre of the blossom. It doesn't matter if a flower has three feet;
like an insect, it may have more than two and it won't stand on two.
Spread the bottom ends of the toothpicks out a trifle like a tripod to
make the flower stand steady (Fig. 106).
When you have made several dancers, stand them on a tin tray, and they
will be a group of "daffy-down-dillies just come to town," arrayed in
their best gowns and ready to take part in the dance. Tap the tray
gently from underneath and the dancers will begin to move. Tap a little
harder and they will begin to dance. Tip the tray slightly forward and
they will dance toward you; tip it backward and they will dance away
again.
[Illustration: Fig.108 - Daffodil stalk for you to turn into a
whirligig.]
[Illustration: Fig.109 - The Whirligig.]
A Daffodil Animal
Queer little animals that come only from Daffy land can be made of the
single daffodil-blossoms. Take one of the flowers and carefully cut
away the outstanding petals, leaving the perfect, long cup. Hold the
cup in your left hand with the short, green stem hanging down; the stem
is the animal's head; then break off about half an inch from the blunt
ends of four wooden toothpicks and use the longest parts for legs. Push
the pointed ends of the tooth pick legs up into the under-side of the
long, slender cup as it is held in your left hand. Keep the legs of an
even length and the animal will stand firmly. This little fellow, with
his green head and long green nose, is very comical (Fig. 107). He can
dance on the tin tray too, and run about when you tip it.
The daffodil toys will keep their color a long while even after the
blossoms are dry. Do not take off the brown calyx which is lightly
wrapped around the bottom of each flower. It represents the hair of the
dancers and the ears of the animal.
The Whirligig
You can have some fun with the daffodil stalk, too, after taking off
the flowers.
Fig. 108 is a daffodil stalk; look at it closely, then look at Fig.
109. They are really the very same though they appear to be so
different. One seems to have a blossom at the top, and you know that
the other has not.
If you want to do the trick and make a stalk blossom, select a stalk
like Fig. 108, hold the stem closely between your open hands and roll
it rapidly by first sliding your right hand forward while the left
slides backward, then the left forward and the right hand back. This
makes a whirligig of your stalk, and the flower will appear at the top
as you see it in Fig. 109.
Try making whirligigs of other kinds of stems; of grasses, twigs, and
leaves.
_PART V_
SEED-VESSELS