February’s fair maid
WHATEVER the hardships of winter, there is cheer to be found in the fact that the snow-drops will always come, first to break through earth crisp with frost, filling us all with inspiration just as we grow fed up with the New Year. ‘Lone flower, hemmed in with snows, and white as they/But hardier far, once more I see thee bend/Thy forehead as if fearful to offend,’ wrote Wordsworth. Long seen as symbols of hope, rebirth and loyalty, Perse-phone is said to have brought snowdrops with her every spring when she returned from Hades and their genus name Galanthus derives from Greek words for ‘milk’ and ‘flower’, forever associating them with Mother Nature and other goddesses. What’s not to love?
Luckily, Britain has been abundant in snow-drops ever since they came along with the Norman Invasion. At Hever Castle in Kent, 140,000 of these bashful maids now bow their heads, including rare yellow-tipped ‘Wendy’s Gold’, ‘Grumpy’ (looks like a sad face) and a giant (9in) called ‘Colossus’ (pictured right) (from February 7; www.hevercastle.co.uk). This year’s Snowdrop Festival at Shepton Mal-let, Somerset—entirely run by volunteers and funded by grants and open gardens—promises to be the biggest yet, with 500,000 planted on roadsides, roundabouts and public spaces so far. The town was home to ‘Snowdrop King’ James Allen, a self-taught horticulturist who bred more than 100 varieties in the late 19th century; sadly, only two, ‘Magnet’ and ‘Merlin’, survive. The festival runs from February 12–18 with a programme that includes plant sales, drawing and craft workshops and poetry walks (www.sheptonsnowdrops.org.uk).
The home of another ‘S. Arnott’, the current crop of which is derived from a clump discovered under a bramble bush in 1985 and was subject to a famous bulb theft in the 1990s. Colesbourne sells many snowdrops, including ‘Epiphany’, which flowers at Christmastime, and ‘Comet’ with a green marking that resembles an upside-down heart. The gardens, which include an impressive arboretum, open for Snowdrop Season on every weekend in February ().
