It’s going to be all white
The arrival of snowdrops offer a sign of hope for spring
AFTER a long, cold winter, I love to see spring flowers shyly poking their heads out of the ground.
In our local park, purple, yellow and white crocuses are emerging to carpet the grassy slopes and the yellow trumpets of daffodils are beginning to burst from their buds. But the first flower to bloom is the snowdrop, growing in tight clumps beneath the trees.
There are about 20 different species of snowdrops, and some cultivars – varieties that have been grown with selective breeding – bear unusual names such as Robin Hood, Merlin, Grumpy, Magnet and Walrus.
These little flowers have amazing powers. The tips of their leaves are particularly hard to help them break through frozen soil.
Snowdrops also have built-in anti-freeze proteins that stop ice forming, protecting them from the cold.
When the weather warms up, snowdrops move their petals upwards and outwards to attract pollinators such as bees.
Ruby Harrison of Woodland Trust says: “Many people see snowdrops as a signal to the end of winter as they tend to flower between January and February, although in recent years there have been sightings as early as November. If you’d like to see them, try searching broadleaved woodland and along riverbanks as well as parks, gardens and meadows.
“Snowdrops are a versatile plant as the bulb has been used in modern medicine as a painkiller and has also played a part in developing dementia treatment. However the bulb in its raw form is poisonous to humans.”
The snowdrop’s Latin name is galanthus, which translates as milk flower.
Snowdrop enthusiasts, or galanthophiles, have been known to pay huge sums for rare varieties with a single galanthus plicatus ‘Golden Fleece’ bulb fetching £1,390 on eBay in 2015.
The snowdrop has long been viewed as a symbol of hope for better times ahead. There are plenty growing in our park this year, so here’s hoping...