Happy Saint David’s Day. The daffodil was chosen as the floral emblem of Wales by Lloyd George as it’s reliably in flower on Saint David’s Day, and commonly found across the country. Bunches of daffs are traditionally thought to bring good luck and abundance.

There are hundreds of daffodil varieties of all shapes, sizes, shades of yellow, orange and white, with frills without frills. The classic, and original, is this type of brilliant golden, trumpet daffodil but my favourites are the more buttery coloured ones that are less showy.

They are a great choice for brightening up the spring gloom and will grow pretty much anywhere except in waterlogged soils. Plant in September and don’t cut down the leaves until they are completely dead – they need these after flowering to feed the bulb to flower again – so plant where you don’t want a nicely mown lawn as soon as the warm, sunny spring days arrive.

Some places to visit to see daffodils: Cotehele, Cornwall; Alnick Castle, Northumberland; Blickling Estate, Norfolk; Colby Woodland Gardens, Pembrokeshire; Wimpole Estate, Cambridgeshire.