by Thompson & Morgan | Oct 14, 2022 | Flowers, Gardening Posts, Winter gardening
Giant snowdrops add interest to winter gardens
Image: Visions BV, Netherlands
Winter is often regarded as a time of quiet dormancy in the garden. But with warming winters, some wild flowers now come into bloom as early as December, a trend which is set to continue. Here are five native and naturalised wildflowers that provide colour and interest during the cooler months.
For more inspiration, see our full range of winter flowering bulbs and enjoy a succession of cheerful flowers all year round.
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by Sue Russell | Feb 27, 2018 | Flowers, Gardening Posts
The days are beginning to pull out, lighter mornings and also evenings too. Yippee!
Washbrook Church
I love getting wrapped up and walking over the fields in our village with the kids and hubby this time of the year. We love to visit St Mary’s Church in Washbrook which is in an isolated position among the fields, about three miles west from the centre of Ipswich. The church is now redundant and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. There are parts of the church which dates to the 12th century but the majority is the 14th century. Well worth a visit!
Snowdrops in the graveyard
My focus, this month are the beautiful graceful Galanthus. The children love exploring the snowdrops at their different growing stages. The graveyard is littered with these beauties and when they die back, they make room for decandant Daffodils.
More snowdrops out and about!
The snowdrops have been cross polinating and there are doubles and singles, the way they sweep and cover the ground, it is truly a sight to see and worth the walk.
My mother in law is a “Galanthophile” (an enthusiastic collector of snowdrops species and cultivars).
A few years ago, for her birthday, (also in February) we bought her an expensive, highly sought after Galanthus plicatus “Wendys Gold”.
‘Wendy’s Gold’ is a bulbous perennial to 20cm with broad, grey-green leaves. The white flowers have a yellow-green ovary, and a long, yellow-green mark on the inner petals. She now has a couple of lovely clumps.
Wendy’s Gold snowdrops
She has a new Galanthus plicatus, it has wider leaves and delicately, dimpled white petals, which catch the light.
Mum’s prized snowdrops!
There are so many beautiful snowdrops out there to admire and explore.
My advice, wrap up warm and get out there!
One of my earliest memories; helping my Mum and Dad weed the veggie plot and collecting chicken eggs from the chooks at the end of the garden. I grew up on a farm as a child and always had my own piece of land to grow and learn with, so I suppose its in the blood!
In my mid twenties, I re trained in Horticulture (Professional Gardening ANCH) and set up my own Gardening business working for clients in the Suffolk/Essex area. For the last thirteen years I’ve had the pleasure of working on a private twenty five acre estate tending to the grounds.
In 2016, I joined the team at Thompson and Morgan in the Customer Care department.
Also season ticket holder at Ipswich Town Football Club!!
by Deborah Catchpole | Jan 7, 2013 | Your Stories
What is it about snowdrops?
I’ve always been in love with snowdrops. For as long as I can remember. It might have something to do with the fact that they are the harbinger of spring. The first signs that the sleeping garden is starting to wake again from its winter slumber. After several months of drabness, and no colour, the pure green of the snowdrop stems, particularly obvious when they come poking through real snow, is such a joy to the heart of any gardener. They seem so fragile, so tiny, but yet they are strong enough to push their way through the heavy snow, or through the cold earth to find their way into the rays of the winter sun.
Snowdrops, the sign that spring is on its way
When I was younger, I never knew that there were different types of snowdrops, they all look the same if you don’t get close enough to really look at them, and really appreciate the delicate nuances of difference between the different breeds. When I moved to university my mother gave me a tiny glass vase. I couldn’t work out what the point of it was, it was surely too small to actually put anything in, other than maybe to use as a pot for storing earrings or something similarly small… But come late January, it became clear what the use was… Waiting for me in my pigeon hole when I got back from lectures, was a brown parcel, about the size of margarine tub… I opened it, and that’s what it was… A small margarine tub – the writing on the brown paper was my mother’s – she’s gone completely mad I thought; why is she sending me margarine? I opened the tub – it felt too light to have margarine in it, and inside, wrapped in damp tissue, were six perfect snowdrops. I picked up the phone and called her immediately – the first ones from the garden at home that year – a piece of home, a piece of heaven, a piece of her. ‘That’s what the tiny vase is for’ she told me. Magical.
Every year she did the same thing, tiny snowdrops, sent hundreds of miles, connecting me with her, connecting me with the garden of my youth. Now that I have my own garden, I collect the first snowdrops from my own garden and the vase sits proudly on my kitchen table. The only difference is that my passion for snowdrops has grown. I wouldn’t say I know enough about them yet, or indeed have enough different varieties to call myself a galanthophile, but I’m definitely well on my way! I like to visit snowdrop gardens – Welford Park just outside of Newbury is breathtaking. Like a carpet of pure snow, with a scent so light that it carries on the air, and unless you really pay attention you’d miss it altogether. This year I’m going to Bennington Lordship, in Hertfordshire, and I can’t wait to see what it’s like. I can’t wait.
You can read more on my blog: theenglishrose.blog.com
I’m a 30 year old, writer, photographer, gardener, and sweetpea obsessive! I did a degree in English Literature at The University of Liverpool, and when I am not writing I’m often found in my garden.
Deborah has also written gardening articles for The Herts Advertiser
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