A magnificent painting entitled Echo and Narcissus hangs in the Walker Art Gallery at Liverpool, U.K. Executed in the Pre-Raphaelite style by the English painter John William Waterhouse in 1903 it depicts Narcissus sprawled on the edge of a rock bank in the middle ground, admiring his reflection in the water. On the opposite bank in the foreground, a wistful Echo gazing across at him. She is suffering from what today is known as a wardrobe malfunction. Most becoming it is too, but as gardeners we are more concerned with a lack of narcissus blooms. True, at her feet, is a flourishing patch of yellow water iris – but no narcissi.
