Snow

Common Snowdrop

We haven't really had much of a winter here yet. There's been a hard frost or two, and the winds have certainly been howling, but we've had no snow, and it hasn't gotten below freezing for long (though rumour has it that our relatively balmy conditions may change in the next day or two). On sunny days, it even feels a bit like spring — though granted, perhaps a rather bitter spring day in early March. The snowdrops are now making a splash, popping up in little clusters all over the lawn. We have two species in the garden: Common Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis, above) and Greater Snowdrop (Galanthus elwesii, below).  The biggest difference between the two is the shape of their leaves; Greater Snowdrop's are much bigger and broader. These harbingers of spring are well-loved and widely planted in Britain. Long thought to be native to the islands (or perhaps introduced in Roman times), snowdrops are now thought to be much newer arrivals, perhaps as recently as the 1500s.

They're perennial, springing up from their small bulbs in January or February here in Britain. They'll grace our garden for several months, with individual plants (two leaves and a flower) lasting a few weeks each. Once the flowers fade, the leaves die back as well, and all signs of the plant vanish until next winter. In addition to the cheeriness they bring to winter gardens, snowdrops have one more gift for humanity. They contain an active substance called galantamine which has proved useful in the treatment (but not cure) of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of memory impairment. 

Greater Snowdrop