Narcissus a symbol of unrequited love
The Narcissus plant, also known as the daffodil, is a beautiful flowering plant which can be grown in your garden with the added value of ownership of a plant with   a colourful history as a symbol of unrequited love. The flowering plant Narcissus is a genus of mainly hardy,-flowering, bulbs in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae, ] native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia.
Daffodil is a common English name, sometimes used now for all varieties, and is the chief common name of horticultural prevalence used by daffodil lovers such as the American Daffodil Society.
The Narcissus flower is so beautiful that there are many myths surrounding it.
One such is the story of Narcissus the boy, the story from which the plant derived its name.
This is a sad tale of love not realised and vanity. In the story, a beautiful young girl named Echo falls in love with a very vain young man named Narcissus.
When Narcissus was out hunting one day, he was followed into the woods by Echo, who was really yearning to talk with him.
She was, however, afraid to talk to him, due to the crush she had on him, and so merely followed.
As Narcissus was walking along, he could hear Echo’s footsteps, and so he called out “Who is there?”, however the only response he got was Echo answering back “…goes there?…goes there?…goes there?” in her usual, echo-filled tone.
This process continued until at last, Echo could stand it no more, and ran out of the woods, embracing Narcissus in her arms.
Narcissus, not knowing who she was, and full of vanity for himself, was taken aback, and pushed her aside, telling her to leave him alone.
He left, as her heart fell to pieces, and condemned her to a life of solitude and sadness, wishing for the love of someone, but never finding it.
Eventually, only her voice remained, echoing through the woods.
After leaving Echo in the woods, Narcissus began to get thirsty, and so looked for a water source from which to drink.
Finding a stream, he bent down to sip from it’s cool water, only to become infatuated with his reflection.
He could not believe how beautiful it was, and instantly fell in love with it, all the while not realizing that he was looking at himself.
When he bent down to kiss his reflection, it seemed to run away from where he was, and so he became heart broken, feeling as though the one he loved didn’t love him back, and was teasing him.
For fear of ruining the image of his loved one, he refused to drink from the stream, and so became thirstier as the days went by.
Eventually, overcome by dehydration, Narcissus died, merely for his self-infatuation.
Legend has it that, after Narcissus the boy died by the stream, a flower grew up from where he fell.
In the Roman version of the myth, Narcissus actually became the flower.
The narcissus flower is the national flower of Wales, where it is traditional to wear a daffodil or a leek on Saint David’s Day (March 1).
The Narcissus flower is perceived in the West as a symbol of vanity, in the East as a symbol of wealth and good fortune.
This flower plant with its historic symbolism for love  and rejection  in both Greek and Roman mythology  can be obtained locally for cultivation .

Queries can be made for a narcissus plant at the # I Plant Shop on Sherriff Street. (Telephone # 227-8094)
They will also advise on how it can be successfully cultivated for the benefit of your garden.