I always get so much more from garden visiting in winter. It's such a novelty being outside and there's so much promise of things to come...
Last weekend my partner and I attended one of the special snowdrop days at Chelsea Physic Garden. Saturday was a beautiful, clear sunny day and it was great being outside among catkins, unfurling leaf buds, early bees and, of course, snowdrops (Galanthus spp.).
There were no vast swathes of naturalised snowdrops at Chelsea, but small clumps of different cultivars planted in a 'trail', which took us around the garden as we followed it. My favourite was 'S. Arnott', a lovely long-stemmed variety with a large flower and a subtle honey scent, but there were many different types, including double-flowered 'Lady Beatrix Stanley' and snowflakes, which aren't snowdrops at all but belong to the same family.
There was plenty more to see besides snowdrops. The wonderful scent of wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) was almost overpowering and there was a fantastic winter-flowering clematis, (Clematis cirrhosa) which put mine to shame. There were crocuses galore, hellebores, dwarf irises and - a special mention for James Alexander-Sinclair - winter aconites.
I always get so much more from garden visiting in winter. It's such a novelty being outside and there's such promise of things to come. I almost take gardens for granted in summer - I expect borders to be heaving with lush foliage and beautiful flowers - but it's the simple sight of something emerging from bare soil or a lone bee on a crocus in February that really lifts my spirits.
While snowdrop days at Chelsea Physic Garden are over for another year, there are plenty of snowdrop days still going on up and down the country. But be quick - most of them only run for another week.
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
Cambo Estate, Scotland
Eastern Walled Gardens, Lincolnshire
Hodsock Priory, Nottinghamshire
Painswick Rocco Garden, Gloucestershire
Rode Hall, Congleton
Snowdrop Valley, Somerset
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