The First Daffodil

As I was cleaning up outside yesterday and dead-
heading the sad looking pansies, I saw a bright glimmer of hope for things to come: the first daffodil of the season. I have really been worried about spring blooms after our record breaking lows from the past few weeks. I lost some of the pansies in containers, a few snapdragons, and all of the kale. These plants usually do fine in our winter weather, but these Arctic fronts have taken their toll on Texas plants this year.
I was starting to see bulbs poking up before the fronts paid us a visit, but not realizing how really cold it would get, I wasn't worried. It was after it started to thaw up a bit I noticed all the freezer burn on the foliage. I wrote Southern Bulbs and asked what they thought about the daffs and tulips here in the Dallas area. The answer was:
"Your daffodils and tulips should be fine and bloom for you this spring (although the foliage was covered in ice and snow for 4 days). The most important thing is that the daffodils and tulips were not budding or in bloom when the freezing weather came and sat down on Dallas/Fort Worth. Damaged foliage can recover from freezing those temperatures, but a bud/blossom cannot. So, expect healthy daffodil and tulip blooms this spring!"
Such good news!! But pessimistic me was still rather skeptical..until I saw this pretty little flower nodding in the breeze. I am now seeing more buds on the daffodils, and I do see a few tulips starting to come up. It was lots of work planting the bulbs, and the disappointment of not having their spring show made me really sad--but looks like my harbingers of spring are ok after all.