Snowdrops are a huge part of late winter here in the Cotswolds with several notable collections open to the public. I’ve been getting myself into the mood by reading Naomi Slade’s guide to these winter stars.
(Given review copy. Not paid.)
Despite having talked to collectors and written about snowdrops for years, I still found plenty to learn from this comprehensive guide. Did you know they are used in Alzheimer’s treatment, or that there are rumours of a pink flower? I didn’t. As Naomi tells us: “In snowdrops, as in life, the more on discovers, the more one realises that there is much yet to learn.”
The Plant Lover’s Guide to Snowdrops aims to fill in some of those gaps although we’re warned that with cultivars running into the thousands, it’s possible to give only “a flavour”.
The book opens with a look at how snowdrops can be used in a garden, where they prefer to grow and suitable companion plants – they are a plant that is often better when seen with a friend.
There’s advice on how to plant to get a naturalistic look and suggestions of other things that will enhance a winter garden.
Moving on to the snowdrops themselves, we’re told about their taxonomy (family tree), native environment, and how they got to Western Europe where snowdrop mania took off – collectors are known as galanthophiles. This section also includes a really clear explanation of the make up of a snowdrop from roots and basal plate to spathe and pedicel.
There’s a discussion about the vexed question of whether bulbs are best planted when dormant in summer or ‘in the green’ immediately after flowering. The jury appears to be still out on a definitive answer.
We’re told how to look after bulbs, pests and diseases, and places to see good displays or unusual varieties both in Britain and abroad.
Woven through are mini ‘interviews’ with noted collectors and experts, annecedotes about snowdrops and other miscellaneous but interesting snippets.
In the profiles of different varieties, we meet “troublemaker” ‘Brenda Troyle’, the “bonkers” ‘Blewbury Tart’, and ‘Lady Elphinstone’, which resembles a “good dollop of lemon-meringue pie”.
With prices for bulbs sometimes running into hundreds of pounds, the best bit of these plant profiles is that for each there’s an indication of how easy it is to grow. Snowdrops can be tricky and it’s best to start out with the cheerfully accommodating varieties.
But snowdrop growing comes with a warning: “although dahlias, hostas, cacti, sweet peas and fruit trees can all inspire devotion, there is no plant obsessive quite like a galanthophile”.
The Plant Lover’s Guide to Snowdrops by Naomi Slade is published by Timber Press with an RRP of £17.99. It can be purchased here for the reduced price of £15. (Price correct at time of publication.)
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