Snowdrops can melt even hearts of ice

Few plants have the emotional power of a snowdrop, blooming when it seems the greyness of winter will never end. They are just starting to open now in parks, on lawns and on the banks of streams, and you’d have to have a heart of ice not to feel just a little something on seeing those nodding white flowers.  

In fact, snowdrops have a good way of dealing with hearts of ice. They have a biological version of antifreeze in their sap, and hardened tips to the leaves which allows them to keep growing even when the ground is frozen. And so, even when the good days seem a long way off, the snowdrop chooses this time of year to have its very best days.  

Snowdrops aren’t native to the British Isles, though we don’t know when they were introduced. What we do know is they like growing here. Many streams and smaller rivers have snowy white banks at this time of year as the plant bursts into flower from bulbs moved along by flooding. You’re most likely to find Galanthus nivalis, which has grey-green leaves and green U-shaped marks on the inner petals, or its double variant, which looks like a crinoline dress. But another species that has naturalised fairly well, particularly in church yards, is G. elwesii. This has fatter strap-like grey leaves. Another species is G.woronowii, which you can easily identify by its apple-green foliage.  

There are rarer varieties with yellow markings and ovaries, and others with unusual green patterns on the inner petals, or green-washed outer petals. One is “Grumpy”, which has two green dots and an up-turned U marking, just like a :( face. Unusual cultivars can sell for extraordinary sums of money (just one bulb of G. plicatus “Golden Fleece” sold in 2015 for £1,300). The trouble is, to really appreciate all these tiny differences, you’ll need to crouch down on the cold muddy ground to have a proper look. But a bit of mud is surely a small price to pay when snowdrops give us so much hope of good days to come. 

 Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of the Spectator and author of The Natural Health Service