How it lifts one’s spirits to see the first early snowdrops appearing. It has been so warm that we have only just begun the task of clearing the dying foliage in the borders but how enchanting it is to find beneath the leaves the earliest snowdrops pushing through the cold dank earth. Our first to show (not counting the autumn flowering galanthus which do not really count) is Three Ships. I suppose this is named after the Christmas carol as it always appears in good time for Christmas. It is a really good robust variety with nice dark green markings and green leaves inherited from its Plicatus ancestry.
Now we will be inspired to embark on tidying the garden so as to show off the snowdrop collection for our open days in early February. Our first visitors will be appearing in the last week of January, an indication of how the season has become gradually earlier each year. When we first opened the garden for snowdrops we would not think of doing so before the third or fourth week of February.
