06 Sunday Feb 2022
Posted in flowers, wildflowers
Despite being battered by drenching rain and storm-force wind gusts these hardy daffodils were still looking gorgeous.
In fact, the remaining water droplets seemed only to add to their beauty.
12 Saturday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, winter
In truth, there is nothing wild about these gorgeous daffodils – they must’ve been planted several years ago in the wide verges near Cardiff Bay Hospital, but it was such a delight to see their bright and glorious little faces bobbing in the light breeze on a grey day. And they were rather nicer than the thick sticky mud I trudged through as I made a circuit of Grangemoor Park.
01 Thursday Mar 2018
Tags
daffodil, First day of spring, spring, Spring colour, spring flowers, St David's Day, Welsh national day
Dydd Gwŷl Dewi hapus! And Happy Spring!
26 Friday Jan 2018
She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour:
“Winter is dead.”
~ A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young
05 Wednesday Apr 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers
Tags
daffodil, Penarth railway station, Penarth station, Snake’s head fritillary, Spring blooms, Spring colour, spring flowers, tulips
Though Penarth is a wonderfully historic Victorian seaside town, with lovely parks, an iconic pier and grand buildings, its station is nothing to write home about. The original stone-built station buildings were demolished in the 1980s and replaced with a functional but ugly brick structure. So, it’s not one of those picturesque stations with hanging baskets full of summer flowers but it does have one redeeming feature. The scruffy and uncared-for dirt bank alongside the platform is currently home to a delightful display of Spring blooms. So, while the other morning commuters spend their waiting time scrolling through the latest social media happenings on their smartphones, completely oblivious to their surroundings, I enjoy the flowers. I hope you do too!
18 Saturday Mar 2017
From a springtime wander in Cardiff’s magnificent Bute Park…. These make my heart sing!
01 Wednesday Mar 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers
04 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted in flowers, nature, nature photography
As the daffodil is one of the national symbols of Wales, I naturally expect to see a lot of daffodils here and, though it is still very early in the season, so far I have not been disappointed. As I couldn’t help but wonder why the daffodil is an official Welsh emblem, I’ve been investigating.
It seems the origins are somewhat obscure. It could be because the daffodil was the favourite flower of the only Welshman to have been Prime Minister of Britain, David Lloyd George, who apparently wore the flower each year on St David’s Day and supposedly ordered its use in the celebration of Edward’s investiture as Prince of Wales in 1911 (though that event was in July and photographs show no daffodils present).
one of the more unusual Welsh varieties of daffodil
It could perhaps be because the flower usually blooms in early spring which usually coincides with the celebration of the Welsh patron Saint David’s Day on 1 March (not late January, like this year). Or it could be a confusion of words: that other national Welsh emblem, the leek, is cenhinen in the Welsh language, whereas the Welsh for daffodil is cenhinen pedr. Did the two terms just get confused over time? The truth may never be known.
earthstar 
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