#cautionarytale — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

Garden Writing and Other Wanderings @[email protected] · 2026-05-01 · 12:58 UTC

A Tale of Two Flowers

May 1, 2025

It is May Day, and the daffodils are having their day in the sun as well they should on this festival of spring. Over the years, I have accumulated many different varieties, and I’ve learned to plant both early and late bulbs so that the bloom time is extended. The planting usually happens on a late fall day when I realize that I need to get them into the ground before it freezes solid. So, I scatter bulbs here or there and then promptly forget where I did plant them until they pop up in the spring. I know I could use markers, but they are some of the first green shoots to lift out of the ground. Anyways, it is always exciting to have an unexpected discovery. One needs this in late February and early March when spring is still just a dream.

This year’s new blooms are a late variety with creamy white ruffled petals and a lovely scent thanks to a special order from Johnny’s Selected Seed in Maine. I used to think all daffodils are basically the same until I did a little research and found that there are over 26,000 cultivated varieties. They are all in the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae) which also includes alliums like onions and garlic. I guess there is zero chance of collecting them all.

Daffodils are poisonous to deer, and that is why they avoid them. I’ve read that if you plant daffodils around a deer delectable plant, they will keep away from it. It is important to note that they are also poisonous to humans. The leaves, bulb and stem contain the highly toxic chemical lycorine. I have never heard of a daffodil poisoning because who would think about eating one? We have this wise sense about us. It may be part of the sixth sense which tells us: Yes, it is lovely to look at and the smell is divine… but don’t even think of eating it. Ironically, this plant also contains an ingredient which is used in treating Alzheimer’s. Nature seems to have this thing with medicine disguised as a poisonous plant.

The term daffodil is interchangeable with the name Narcissus which brings me to the second part of my tale. Long ago back in grade school, we learned about the Greek god Narcissus. Well, at least some of us did. That was something we skipped right over at St. George School; and yet, somehow, we learned about it anyways. According to Kew Gardens, “The scientific name of the daffodil genus, Narcissus, is believed to come from the Greek myth of Narcissus who fell in love with his reflection in a pool of water. The nodding head of the daffodil is said to symbolize Narcissus gazing at his reflection.”

That’s just weird right. No one in real life would do something like that. But the myth is meant as a cautionary tale that warns us of the danger of thinking too much of oneself. I am realizing lately that there are a few too many narcissists hanging around in high places. I would recommend that they study the ending of Narcissus’ tale where he eventually dies from a heavy dose of self-infatuation. If one doesn’t want to look to the Greek gods for advice then perhaps one of the many thousands of daffodil types can help. There’s the Rip Van Winkle from the Victorian Era or the Original Poet’s variety. There is even a Trumpet daffodil if anyone is interested. There’s just one thing to remember… they are poisonous!

Sources:
Kew Gardens: https://www.kew.org/pla

#cautionaryTale #daffodils #flowers #garden #narcissus #spring

#cautionarytale #daffodils #flowers #garden #narcissus #spring

WIST Quotations @[email protected] · 2026-04-01 · 17:07 UTC

A quotation from James Howell

Look high and fall into a Cow-turd.

James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian and writer
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “English Proverbs” (1659)
[compiler]

More about this quote: wist.info/howell-james/83126/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #jameshowell #proverb #attention #broughtlow #caution #cautionarytale #daydream #fall #humiliation #payattention #presumption #watchfulness

#fall #quote #quotes #qotd #attention #quotation

N-gated Hacker News @[email protected] · 2026-02-25 · 13:42 UTC

⚠️ Warning: this masterpiece of digital misadventure chronicles the tragic downfall of a wannabe web pioneer who dared to stray from the sacred .com realm. 💥 Witness as their grand .online scheme fizzles into a cautionary tale of domain doom, proving that sometimes free is just too expensive. 😂
https://www.0xsid.com/blog/online-tld-is-pain #digitalmisadventure #domainfail #webpioneer #cautionarytale #internethumor #HackerNews #ngated

#digitalmisadventure #domainfail #webpioneer #cautionarytale #internethumor #hackernews

Eric Kliq410 @[email protected] · 2025-02-27 · 11:28 UTC

✨ The Rise and Fall of Belle Gibson: A Cautionary Tale of Trust in the Digital Age ✨

In the early 2010s, Belle Gibson captivated the social media wellness world with her inspiring yet false narrative of overcoming terminal cancer through clean eating and alternative therapies.

#BelleGibson #WellnessScam #DigitalAge #TrustIssues #SocialMedia #CautionaryTale #AppleCiderVinegar #NetflixSeries #HealthFraud #WellnessIndustry
https://medium.com/@eamail43812/the-rise-and-fall-of-belle-gibson-a-cautionary-tale-of-trust-in-the-digital-age-a0c9db9ffbde

#bellegibson #wellnessscam #digitalage #trustissues #socialmedia #cautionarytale

Joseph Lim :mastodon: @[email protected] · 2024-08-29 · 23:37 UTC

#TedyTeow, #Malaysian #fraudster dubbed #JhoLow 2
"Malaysian social media celebrated Teow’s extradition to PRC. “He destroyed many people’s lives.. deserves to be whipped, tortured & suffer in prison b4 dying”.. Ang hopes his experience will serve as a #cautionarytale to anyone #tempted by #investments offering too much, too fast. “huge cos like EPF offer #reasonable returns at ~6%.. what makes u think much smaller cos can #guarantee returns tt r much higher?”"
#StopGreed
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3276381/how-tedy-teow-malaysian-fraudster-dubbed-jho-low-2-allegedly-swindled-millions