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Category: St David's Day
Last year, I decided I wanted a vase or two of beautiful, blooming daffodils on my table for St Davids Day. I knew you could force them to bloom indoors, out of season, so I started looking for directions.
Many websites have directions for forcing daffs indoors, in soil, 13 weeks ahead of when you want them to bloom. I wanted mine in water and rocks only, no soil, and I did it in twelve weeks, which was perfectly timed. If you want a vase of daffs on your table this March 1, try this about now:
Pick your daff variety. The classic daffodil is available all over but there are lots of cultivars: short-stemmed varieties, miniature jonquils, double blooms, short or long cups, different colors, many choices!
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In case you didnt already know, daffodils are a member of the Narcissus genus and they're all poisonous. Don't let children or pets eat any part of the plant and the sap can cause dermatitis in some people, especially wash your hands if you're handling a baby after you cut daffodils or get the sap on your skin.
We were very lucky to get a present of some Really Welsh Duffydils from some lovely people a few years ago and I used these. I did this last year and took pics - these bulbs were a couple of years old, a 2009 product. I was a bit worried they'd be dead and wouldn't produce blooms, because they were so old, but they weren't - they worked perfectly!
II couldn't tell from their site if they're selling daffs by mail order. I though they were but can't find it, but give them a try if you want daffodils from Wales.
The American Daffodil Society has pictures of many beautiful cultivars to look at and think about on their pages: http://www.daffodilusa.org/daffodils/div.html . They also have a list of suppliers you can order from , all over the world and including the UK, if you don't find what you want locally.
Wrap your daff bulbs in paper towels, root side down, and set them in open plastic sandwich bags in your refrigerator door. They should be stored at 35-45 - I think thats 2-7 -
At about six weeks or so, you should have some good roots and shoots on them.
Select your container. Make sure the one you select will support the variety of daffs you've chosen. It would probably be sensible to choose a deep container for big, long-stemmed varieties. I did one deep, one medium and one shallow. The flowers in the shallow container fell over a couple of times and wouldn't stand up at the end but before that, they looked frankly awesome in their low, glass bowl.
Take them out of the fridge and put them in a vase or container in a bed of pebbles or stones (or marbles or whatever), about two thirds up the bulb, root side down. Cover the rocks with cold water. They need light now, so move them to a cool spot in the winter sun, about 60 or 16 and watch them grow. It was mild where we live that winter, so I put them out on the porch.
When they get a bit tall and start to show blooms, move them to your table or wherever you're going to enjoy them (and show them off!).
They were bright and tall and beautiful, and they looked absolutely great on the table.
I love carving jack o'lanterns and do gothic haunted houses, castles and stuff for my house and friends and relatives and I thought I'd do a dragon this year so I made some stencils which anyone can download and use for personal use only, not for any commercial use or resale without my express, written permission.
Below you'll find three dragons , a hard version and medium and easy versions. We also have an easy 'Castell Coch' stencil here for those of you who prefer a castle. The dragon is an emblem of Wales and can be seen on the national flag:-'Y Ddraig Goch'. So if you are Welsh or of Welsh descent carving a dragon pumpkin is a superb way of celebrating Halloween and your 'Welshness' at the same time. If not, well, it's a great motif anyway.
There are pictures of the dragons on this page, both in outline and as finished products. Full directions are included with each of the Dragon Stencil downloads. If you try one of our stencil patterns please feel free to send us a picture or post in the comments box below. Read on for an account of some interesting Welsh Halloween customs.
Directions
The easy and medium design patterns can be carved out or done by scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black. The hard pattern is better done by the second method i.e. not actually carving out sections but scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black below.
Cut out black sections with X-Acto knife and trace on pumpkin with crayon or wipe erase marker OR hold stencil over pumpkin surface and poke around silhouette of black areas with pin, then remove stencil and carve sections outlined by holes.
Make your jack o'lantern last longer by washing the inside with lemon juice to retard mold growth, then coat insides and exposed inner membrane with petroleum jelly to keep moist.
Easy Dragon Pattern
This design is simply a silhouette and anyone can use this for any purpose, it is public domain. This is an easy difficulty design. It can be carved out or done by scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black, above.
Download Here
Welsh Dragon Halloween Stencil (Easy Pattern) easyDragon.pdf, 122KB ∞
Medium Dragon Pattern
This is a medium difficulty design and can be downloaded for personal, non-commercial use. It can be carved out or done by scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black, above. This design may not be copied, published, reproduced or used for any commercial or resale use without my express written permission.
Download Here
Welsh Dragon Halloween Stencil (Medium Difficulty Pattern) medDragon.pdf, 148KB ∞
Copyright ©2009, StoryForge Studios
Hard Dragon Pattern
This is a more difficult design and may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial use. It is better done by not actually carving out sections but scraping away the outer rind and hollowing out the pumpkin to leave a thin wall of pumpkin meat in the areas in black, above. This design may not be copied, published, reproduced or used for any commercial or resale use without my express written permission.
Download Here
Welsh Dragon Halloween Stencil (Hard Pattern) hardDragon.pdf, 264KB ∞
Copyright ©2009, StoryForge Studios
Old Welsh Customs Associated With Halloween / Nos Calan Gaeaf
Nos Calan Gaeaf is the Welsh term for Samhain otherwise known as Halloween in English. It has its roots in ancient pagan tradition. Whilst Samhain means 'November' in Irish Gaelic, Nos Calan Gaeaf in Welsh means 'the night of the first day of winter'.
It should be pointed out that pumpkin carving is not an ancient Welsh tradition. Indeed pumpkins were unknown in Europe in pre-Columbian times. How rapidly their cultivation spread westward to Britain and ultimately Wales after 1492 is a matter for conjecture. Of course pumpkins grow very well in Wales today, particularly, it would seem, if they are raised on a diet of real ale - Giant pumpkin fed on beer
Ghastly faces were , however, carved on turnips to ward off evil spirits on Halloween night in parts of England, Scotland and Ireland. It seems unlikely that the practice was entirely unknown in Wales.
One custom most certainly associated with Wales (and other parts of Britain) was the 'Puzzling Jug'. For more on this, see the following post:- What Did The Welsh Do On Halloween? - The Puzzling Jug
Puzzling jugs were very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Typically an inscription challenges the drinker to consume the contents without spilling them, which, because the neck of the jug is perforated, is impossible to do conventionally. This occasioned much hilarity when unwary drinkers inundated themselves with ale.
Other specifically Welsh customs include the Coelcerth, Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta and more. From the Wikipedia :
Coelcerth - Families build a fire and place stones with their names on it. The person whose stone is missing the next morning would die within the year.
Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta - Legend has it that a fearsome spirit called Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta took the form of a tail-less black sow and roamed the countryside with a headless woman. Children would rush home early.
Eiddiorwg Dalen - A few leaves of ground ivy is thought to give you the power to see hags. For prophetic dreams a boy should cut ten ivy leaves, throw away one and put the rest under his head before he sleeps. A girl should take a wild rose grown into a hoop, creep through it three times, cut it in silence, and go to bed with it under her pillow.
Teiliwr - In Glamorgan tailors were associated with witchcraft. They supposedly possessed the power to ‘bewitch’ anybody if they wished.
Twco Fala/fale Ducking apples
For more on these and other ancient Welsh customs and superstitions you might wish to consult 'Cambrian Superstitions', an excellent work on Welsh folklore published by William Howells in 1831. The full title of the book is ' Cambrian superstitions, comprising ghosts, omens, witchcraft, traditions, To which are added a concise view of the manners and customs of the principality, and some fugitive pieces ' There are links to buy, or read online from the Internet Archive, in the advertisement below.
"Cambrian Superstitions, comprising ghosts, omens......"
Or download here: Cambrian Superstitions on the Internet Archive
Please Retweet 
Free dragon pumpkin stencils for halloween! #wales #halloween https://t.co/ZdC64Ovi7x pic.twitter.com/nPeHkd6G6k
— americymru (@americymru) October 2, 2016
From the South Wales Argus :"AS the United States' first black President was sworn in, a Newport-born man had a ringside seat to history being made."Musician and artist Jon Langford, 51, a founder member of the punk band The Mekons, had played at a Washington DC ball to celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration the night before, and had a seat at the event being watched by millions of people around the world."..."Mr Langford performed six hours of country-punk with his current band the Waco Brothers in a sell-out event celebrating Obamas links with Chicago."'The concert was incredible and an illustration of how things are changing. I performed with blues singer David Honeyboy Edwards, whos 94. God knows what things were like when he was a kid,' said Mr Langford."Read the rest of this really fantastic article and what Jon Langford says about the experience HERE .
