Daffs are blooming lovely (From Western Telegraph)

Daffs are blooming lovely

DESPITE the current cold snap, supplies of hardy daffodils were blooming for St David's Day.

The only problem the cold weather caused was frozen fingers when picking the popular flower.

Graham Perkins grows 1.5 million daffodil blooms a year on 15 acres of land in sight of St David's Cathedral.

He said: "Ten years ago we were struggling to see daffodils growing in time for March 1st. Now it's not uncommon to see them before Christmas!

"They are hardy flowers and the only problem with the recent cold weather is that it freezes your fingers when picking the daffodils".

John Shipton, who grows daffodils near Whitland, said: "It's a shame that only a small percentage of daffodils worn in Wales this week will actually come from Wales. Most are grown in Holland or Cornwall."

The true emblem of Wales is the leek, which was used in battle by the Welsh to distinguish themselves from the English.

The daffodil is an alternative emblem developed in more recent years and used by the English Government as it lacked the patriotic defiance associate with the leek.

The Wild Plant Conservation Charity, through its county flowers project, says it has found the daffodil's popularity on the decline.

In a recent poll, Pembrokeshire was the only county in Wales which voted the daffodil as the favourite wild flower for Wales.