Daffodils

Daffodils will be sold throughout the county to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, officials said. The flowers are sold in bunches of 10, said Wendy Holden, sales manager of Chicago Title Co. of Ventura County, which has sponsored the fund-raiser for four years. Prices are $5 a bunch, $7 for a bouquet in a vase, $50 for a mini-basket of flowers and $100 for a corporate basket. Orders for 10 or more bunches will be delivered to the buyer's door.

In their battle to end the scourge of cancer, one organization plans to employ a bouquet of yellow flowers. The American Cancer Society has chosen to sell daffodils, often seen as a symbol of spring and rebirth, to raise money for cancer research, education and patient service costs.

There are bulbs that last and bulbs that don't. Dutch iris, freesias, sparaxis and watsonias are a few that you can plant in the fall that will come back on their own for years and years. They grow and spread into larger and larger clumps--what gardeners call "naturalizing"--with little or no help from you. Then there other fall-planted bulbs, such as ranunculus, tulips and hyacinths, that bloom once in spring and are finished, just like an annual bedding plant.

Temperatures returned to record highs today, reaching 72 in South Dakota, sending beach-goers in shorts to share a park with ice fishermen in Pennsylvania and letting Georgia daffodils appear one month earlier than usual. A forecaster said the unseasonably warm weather is two months ahead of schedule. The temperature in New York City hit a record 56 at 11 a.m. and kept rising. The previous record for the date, 54, had stood since 1883.

At every daffodil show, there's a section devoted to the most charming of these bulbs--the miniatures. To qualify as miniatures, daffodils must be small of flower and stature (although they may come from any of the other divisions, from the large-cupped to the wild forms). If you've ever seen miniature daffodils at shows, you've probably been enchanted by them, so you'll be pleased to know that they are not particularly difficult to grow.

Wednesday is the last day to contribute to the American Cancer Society's annual Daffodil Days fund-raising drive. Orders for the bright yellow flowers will be delivered to participants the week of March 20. Local chapters of the society sell the spring-blooming flowers each year as a symbol of hope for cancer patients. The funds raised are used for cancer research and advocacy programs. A bouquet of 10 daffodils costs $10. For an additional $5, a cobalt blue vase is included.

The daffodil, one of the first flowers of spring, is used by the American Cancer Society as a symbol of hope for patients. In keeping with that theme, the organization is now taking orders for its 11th annual Daffodil Days next month. Proceeds go to cancer research, education and patient services such as the Reach to Recovery program, workshops and free transportation to and from medical treatment.

Bulbs galore and a view Stroll down a gently winding mountain garden path and see thousands of daffodils, hyacinths and tulips in bloom at the Daffodil Garden in Running Springs, Calif. The 5-acre private garden, open to the public through April 12 (Easter), is the handiwork of Alma Gene and Dale Bauer, who have planted more than 1 million bulbs on the property in the last 50 years. Paths lead to eight sitting and viewing areas overlooking the San Bernardino Valley.

A former British soap-opera star fronting a Manchester-originated rock band? Sounds like the worst kind of celebrity trend-hopping. Yet the Los Angeles debut of the New Fast Automatic Daffodils at the Whisky on Wednesday had no sense of celebrity gloss, and virtually nothing (save for a strobe light) to do with the recent Manchester acid-house frenzy.

The Long Beach-Harbor-Southeast unit of the American Cancer Society has begun its fourth annual Daffodil Days campaign to raise funds for cancer research and services. Over the past three years, the local unit has raised $45,000 through daffodil sales. The society has set a goal of $25,000 this year, according to Mary-Margaret Stein, chairwoman of the campaign. Daffodils, the first flower of spring and the symbol of eternal hope, are being sold for $4 for a bunch of 10.