Snowdrop explodes
FEW things lift the spirits on a grey winter day more than the sight of flowers bursting through grass and snow.
Gems such as winter aconites, snowdrops, hardy cyclamen and crocus signal the start of the gardening year and a new exciting season ahead.
Hiemalis snowdrops will appear from Christmas onwards. With careful selection, you can have a snowy carpet to mid-march.
The honey-scented, frilly petticoatshaped gilanthus flore pleno has a wonderful honey scent. The taller arkinsii has pear-shaped blooms.
Carpet the ground under winterflowering shrubs such as honeysuckle, lonicera fragrantissima and lonicera x purpusii with the yellow globes of winter aconites – or combine them with snowdrops for a bolder display.
Alternatively, put them in a container and raise on a plinth.
Crocuses produce spreads of purple, pale lilac, white and yellow.
Clumps
Crocus tommasinianus, out in February and March, are attractive now while in bud. Plant crocus in scattered clumps in a sunny border.
If you want to continue the snowy carpet theme when the snowdrops are over, plant crocus sieberi albus.
Hardy cyclamen coum has pink, crimson and white flowers and attractive foliage patterned with silver markings. Combine them with winter aconites, crocuses and snowdrops beneath the bare branches of a whitestemmed birch or the polished mahogony trunk of prunus serrula. They can also be put in alpine troughs and patio container displays.
Plant iris unguicularis now in a sheltered spot against a sunny wall in a corner. They’ll take your breath away. Use them to make a splash by combining them with snowdrops in Delft or blue-painted pots.
When planting these bulbs, choose a spot where they can remain undisturbed under deciduous trees and shrubs, so the bulbs get light when the overhead plants lose their leaves.
Shops now offer bulbs in leaf or flower so you can transform bare areas of the garden in minutes. Snowdrops establish better when planted “in the green” so buy them in bulk.