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Mid- to late-winter gems: Early-flowering diminutives
Create a garden that shines through the forgotten season
It is the earliest flowers of all that stir the already restless gardener's soul, and the snowdrop is often the first to appear en masse. Keen gardeners will travel miles to enjoy a sweep of the common snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis), however bleak the weather. And if tulipomania gripped Dutch gardeners in the 17th century, arousing avarice and greed, galanthophilia has replaced it in the present day.
Indeed, I have seen many a rugged male pluck a small mirror from his jacket pocket and place it underneath a flower in order to fully admire the inner markings, or they get down on bended knee as if in homage. The following flowers could be with you by midwinter if the weather is sufficiently mild.
Snowdrops and snowflakes
The mania for snowdrops has led to hundreds of named forms, and this can sometimes be bewildering, particularly as some of the differences are barely perceptible. To me, a good garden snowdrop has to be vigorous (not 'miffy') and distinctive in some way. The ones described here are all readily available, easy to grow, and offer something special for the garden. Their exquisite white flowers are perfect for lighting up the ground under trees and shrubs in winter.If this is your first attempt at growing snowdrops, start off with the common Galanthus nivalis, the ones you often see in churchyards, as these are the most reliable and least expensive of all snowdrops. There is a single form (known simply as G. nivalis) and a double form (labelled G. nivalis 'Flore Pleno').
You can buy common snowdrops 'in the green', in their hundreds, in early spring. Simply separate the clumps and plant them in a semi-shaded place, preferably in groups of three. When the clump looks full (this usually takes about three years), separate the plants, carefully lifting them just as the flowers fade, and then replant them somewhere else in the garden. Once you have succeeded with the easiest snowdrop of all, progress to the more expensive specialist varieties.
The tall, elegant single snowdrop Galanthus 'Atkinsii' has narrow white outer petals that open widely, reminding me of an open tripod set at 45 degrees. This is early, upright and slender, and is generally one of the first to finish flowering, so place it somewhere towards the back, where the dying foliage won't mar later-flowering plants. Another fine, tall, single snowdrop is 'Magnet'. Each single snowdrop bloom is suspended from a fine arc of long, wiry stem. It's often possible to spot 'Magnet' just by the way the graceful, curved stems and flowers tremble and flutter in the slightest breeze.
The greyer-leaved Galanthus elwesii is a robust, variable single snowdrop from Turkey, and there are many handsome named forms. It tends to be relatively upright, because the leaves are held together tightly by a papery sheath at ground level. If you were to cut through the leafy base, the leaves would be arranged in rings, rather like a leek. The flowers are held on stiff stems at a shy, downward-facing angle. They usually have two heavy mid-green markings, an upper bar and a lower inverted 'V', and are topped with dark green oval ovaries. Each bulb is large, almost the size of a miniature daffodil (maddeningly, sometimes very big bulbs can produce insignificant, tiny flowers). All greyer-leaved snowdrops are happiest in a more open position at the front of a woodland area.
Galanthus woronowii is a low-growing snowdrop, which is being imported from Georgia in large numbers. It has relatively wide, emerald-green leaves and small, globular, bright white single flowers. It keeps its shiny, green leaves well and they are a wonderful foil for slightly later-flowering plants.
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