Well it’s definitely feeling a bit more spring like, I hope it isn’t lulling us into a false sense of security, it’sn an on-going argument in our house, I say ‘I bet it goes and snows now’ and Terry says ‘no it won’t snow now it’s much too warm’, we’ll see, hopefully I’m wrong!

Heralded as signalling the end of the winter months is the beautiful snowdrop (Galanthus) they look so impressive in large numbers creating carpets of white. Galanthus coming from the Greek gala meaning “milk”, anthos “flower” this hardy perennial grows from bulbs producing solitary, pendulous, bell-shaped white flowers.

I hadn’t realised there were so many varieties, I thought a snowdrop was a snowdrop, how wrong was I? There are about 19 species but Galanthophiles (snowdrop fans) have managed to find and name over 500 cultivars with many more grown but not officially named.

Propagation: there are four methods of propagating: division; seed; twin scaling & chipping but to avoid getting too technical I will stick with division which is my preferred method:

Dividing: if you already have snowdrops you can divide them once they have gone over, the flowers have died back and the foliage is yellowing, this is called ‘in the green’. Gently use a fork to lift the clumps and gently pull apart the bulbs to separate with as little disturbance as possible.

Then you can replant bulbs separately where you want them at the same depth as they were. If you don’t have any of your own to divide you can buy them in late spring ‘in the green’ from nurseries or by mail order in bundles.

If you have not tried to grow them before the variety to start with and one of the easiest is Galanthus nivalis – the common single, double or G.’Atkinsli’, a vigorous tall variety.

Position: any garden can accommodate snowdrops they prefer a partly shaded position in a moist but well-drained soil with leaf mould incorporated, a woody area or beneath a deciduous tree would be ideal.