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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

of colour to remind us that summer is on its way. They provide insects with nectar, which is essential for feeding them up again after their long winter sleep. There are several spring bulbs which provide food for insects: snowdrop, winter aconite, snake

.But look how many plants are named after snow! Snow-themed cultivars include Alyssum 'Snowdrift'; Incarvillea delavayi 'Snowtop' and Leucanthemum x superbum 'Snowcap', though ironically, they all bloom in the summer. We've all heard of the snowdrop

. That dream is a long way off - looking out this morning I spotted three unopened snowdrops and a grubby looking hellebore. Perhaps I could make a posy using blueberry stems, some clematis leaves and the sad, token blooms. It's the thought that counts, after

removing the wild plants, perhaps the gardeners could have planted the tulips among them. Rather than tulips, spring bulbs such as crocus, snake's head fritillary and snowdrops, could have been planted to provide a much-needed early source of nectar

after the snowdrops and before the first primroses, and then virtually disappear under the canopy of more showy summer plants. Sometimes they produce a smaller, second flush of flowers in late summer, which I only notice when gardening or sitting close