Making the most of Snowdrops
By Sheila Dearing
Snowdrops are a favourite at Rosemoor as they herald the coming of spring and bring hope that the dark days of winter are numbered.
Once you have found a place where they are happy, snowdrops will easily multiply and it won’t be long until you are able to divide clumps and spread them around the garden – you can never have too many snowdrops. Eventually you will have a ground cover of these delightful plants at a time of year when the borders can look very bare.
There are many cultivars available, but for large swathes, we tend to favour the wild snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis AGM as well as cultivars with larger flowers such as G. ‘Atkinsii’ AGM and G. ‘S. Arnott’ AGM. These can be relied upon to bulk up to spectacular displays in just a few years.
At Rosemoor, we plant snowdrops in amongst the colourful stems of Cornus and Salix. One of the most striking combinations, which we repeat throughout the garden, is Galanthus ‘Atkinsii’ AGM with the bright red stems of Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ AGM. Yellow Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’ AGM forms a more muted display but is no less impressive.
Snowdrops between and beneath deciduous winter flowering shrubs will create an unrivalled winter display. Hamamelis produce fragrant flowers on bare stems, which can produce a brightly coloured backdrop to the pure white snowdrops. H. x intermedia ‘Arnold Promise’ AGM is one of the best with bright yellow flowers. Those of H. ‘Brevipetala’ are intense orange and H. x intermedia ‘Rubin’ AGM displays ruby red flowers.
Try planting your snowdrops beneath a tree with ornamental bark, for example Prunus serrula with shining red bark. Other trees with ornamental bark, including the paperbark maple (Acer griseum AGM) with peeling, papery chestnut bark and the snakebark maples displaying striated bark, available in greens, reds, browns and white combine well. Snowdrops also look great planted beneath silver birches. If these are planted in front of evergreens, then you have a combination that shines from the border on the dullest of winter days.
Hellebores are a must when choosing plants to combine with snowdrops. Reliably free-flowering if planted in a sheltered position, H. x hybridus comes in a wide range of colours, from smoky purples through reds, pinks, whites, pale lemons and apricots so you can have almost any colour combination that takes your fancy.
Many bergenias flush red in the winter, intensifying with the cold. Those with small leaves such as Bergenia ‘Wintermärchen’ AGM make a lovely contrast with the pure white of the snowdrops.
Try naturalising snowdrops in an area of lawn that you can allow to grow wild. Combine the wild snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis AGM, with early crocuses, species Narcissus, winter aconites and cyclamen beneath the canopy of a tree, to give a charming mid-winter display.
Snowdrops are wonderfully versatile, bringing life to the winter garden and when combined with other winter flowering plants, lift the spirits on cold, dank days and on sunnier days, shine from the borders.
Jobs January/February
- Prune apples and pears
Apples and pears need to be pruned in winter when the leaves are off the tree. Aim to take between 10-20% of the overall canopy off in any one winter, creating an open centre.
- Clean pots and greenhouses ready for spring
Cleaning the greenhouse, greatly improves the growing environment for plants. It lets in more light and helps control pests and diseases.
- Start forcing rhubarb
For an early harvest of tender and pink rhubarb, cover the crowns with a layer of straw or bracken then cover with an upturned bucket or traditional clay rhubarb pot to exclude light. Stalks will be ready to pull two-three weeks earlier than uncovered crowns but do not pull stalks for the rest of the season.
- In February, chit potato tubers.
It is important with earlies, and a good idea with maincrops, to ‘chit’ the seed potatoes before planting, allowing them to start sprouting shoots.
- Prune winter flowering shrubs that have finished flowering.
Deciduous shrubs that flower in late winter need annual pruning when they have finished flowering to encourage strong, healthy shoots and to improve flowering the flowing season.
- Cut back deciduous grasses.
When these grasses start to look scruffy and battered by the winter weather, and before new growth starts, it is time to cut them back. It is also the right time to remove dead foliage from evergreen grasses.