in bloom

My first spring flower bloomed this afternoon. A simple but proud daffodil. I planted three varieties of daffodils two autumns ago. They are poking through the ground with full force this year. Last year they were tormented with a snowy and icy spring. While tulips are my spring flower of choice, I just don't have much luck getting them to bloom from year to year. I'm impatient when it comes to cutting the spent blooms and leaves back as summer approaches. At that point I want to clean up the beds and move on to summer annuals. The daffodils, on the other hand, are very low maintenance and seem to come back year-after-year stronger and with more blooms.