Where Have All The Daisies Gone?

“I’ll give you a daisy a day Dear; I’ll give you a daisy a day. I’ll love you until the rivers run still and the four winds we know blow away.”

Daisies are my favorite flower – always have been. My love and appreciation for the daisy goes back to when I was in 7th grade. Nothing in particular happened then, it’s just that’s when I started liking daisies. I don’t know why I remember this, I just do. And it’s not that I liked a different type of flower prior to that. It’s just that prior to that – you know, prior to when you’re 12 or 13 – you don’t know much of anything. You aren’t really aware of the universe and that you actually have a place in it. (Yes, you do!) You kind of run on blind faith – doing what you’re told to do by your parents and doing what you know you’re supposed to do. You’re kind of in a state of oblivion or ignorant bliss. Then suddenly, you wake one day and you are a person (and you like daisies). Things just sort of click and you become more aware of things. But this post is not about that, so ---

Daisies are such a happy, cheery type of flower. Just seeing one puts a smile on my face. So simple and pretty. The daisy needs no flowery complicated accessories. Its petals are not intricately woven hiding secrets within. With the daisy – what you see is what you get. Sweet innocence. Understated beauty. Kind of like “the girl next door.” Fresh faced and no makeup needed. No pretense. Or, like the black cocktail dress. Simple elegance. Quiet distinction. But unlike the black cocktail dress or the girl next door, the daisy doesn’t always get noticed. It doesn’t get its due of praise, I think. That’s ok. I like you anyway little daisy. You are my favorite. I do believe though that daisies are positively associated with sunshine, happiness, peace and love. Remember the picture of the soldier with a daisy sticking out of the barrel of his gun? (Do you actually remember the 60's?)

So, I was 12 in 1969. (Being only 12 then, yeah I remember the 60's. Just a bit too young for all the crazy stuff!) My favorite “star” was Doris Day. (If my sibs are reading this, they are rolling their eyes, saying, “oh yeah, we remember your Doris Day phase.”) My father used to refer to her as “Dodo” (Doe Doe?) and said that this was a nickname for a person named Doris. He swore by it. I always believed him but somehow, secretly, I knew he was just kidding with me. As it turns out, daisies were (are) Doris Day’s favorite flower too! How cool is that when you’re 12 and your favorite star likes the same flower you do! Although we didn’t need it, the daisy and I had some validation. And Doris Day is still my favorite star – no apologies from me about that. Now fast forward some 30+ years to the movie “You’ve Got Mail” and if you have seen it a bazillion times you will have noted that daisies are the Meg Ryan character’s favorite too. If you have only seen it once (or, heaven forbid, not at all) then I highly recommend seeing it again. Not just for the daisy scene but simply because it is a feel good movie - one of my favorites. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have a stunning screen presence and chemistry. And, he brings her daisies!

When we were married, on the day of our wedding, my soon-to-be husband surprised me with 12 dozen daisies. One hundred forty-four daisies! This was way above and beyond sweet! We had bunches of daisies throughout our apartment. It was wonderful and the aroma was heavenly. My husband has also been known to mow around wild daisies in our field and then pick them for me. Sweet!!

And now I ask you, where have all the daisies gone? I cannot find any daisies anywhere. Of course the only florist I go to is at the local Stop & Shop. While there recently, I asked that very question. “So, where are all the daisies?” “Oh, we don’t carry them anymore,” was the reply. “What?!!!” says me. “They just aren’t very popular,” my friendly Stop & Shop florist told me. “You’d have to go to an actual florist. They probably carry them.” Well, I don’t know if I ever would buy flowers for myself anyway. I guess now I’ll never know. I wouldn’t make a special trip to a florist to pick up flowers for myself – for sure. I just thought that, well, while I was at Stop & Shop anyway – you know, buying food and stuff – and the florist is right there near the deli, that maybe I could buy some daisies to grace our kitchen table. Would I actually have bought them for myself? Well, as mentioned, now I’ll never know. They don’t carry them!

My younger son, who is 19 and lives at home, and his girl attended the wedding of a friend recently. They were chosen - or elected or otherwise somehow picked – to take home the lovely centerpiece from their table. Well, I couldn’t believe my eyes when in they walked with these stunning daisies in a clear glass vase and proceeded to set them on the kitchen table. Now, of course, I know these daisies are not for me, yet there they sat on our table. Lovely! I commented on how pretty they were and how nice that they got to take them home. I contained myself and did not let on about how thrilled I was to see daisies and that they were my favorite! They were not mine, but still I got to enjoy them, until they went home. Ahh!

Well, maybe I’ll buy daisies to grace our kitchen table. They will brighten everybody’s day and will not be just for my benefit. They can’t cost all that much I wouldn’t think. They are more like the Keds or Converse of flowers, I would think, unlike the very pricey Nike Air Jordans, like roses are! (Remember PF Flyers, the sneaker that promised to make you “jump higher and run further” – or was it faster? True to their word, I could out run every boy in our neighborhood. Now, there was a sneaker!)

I will always love daisies. And although I don’t see them very often, not even at various functions where other flowers gather, it’s nice to know that they can be found, apparently, at my local florist. Under appreciated, though – the daisy. If ever you come to my house and you want to bring something but you don’t know what to bring (no, you don’t need to bring anything, really – I’m just saying--) I hope after reading this, something will come to mind!

Thanking you in advance,
~ sheri

EDITOR'S NOTE: (Yeah, that's me - editor) Well, the daisies never were taken home by my son's girl -- they stayed on our kitchen table and lasted 2 weeks! I changed the water daily and said "good morning daisies" every morning. Doing this made me smile. (So - I talk to daisies - so what!)