It got up to 51 F yesterday, so I took a walk to see what I could see. And what did I see, but my first glimpse of snowdrops:
What! You can’t see them? Look closer:
Oh…you didn’t think I meant snowdrop flowers, did you? For that you’ll have to wait another two-and-a-half months. Seriously.
My first glimpse of snowdrops
. . . Whoever it was who said Nature made no mistakes in colour harmony was either colour-blind or a sentimentalist. Nature makes the most hideous mistakes; and it is up to us gardeners to control and correct them.
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Twitter: @commonweeder
You offer hope, but right now, even though the temperatuare is 45 degrees, I have at least a foot of snow on the ground.
I grow G. elwesii because in warm years I have Snowdrops blooming in December (1996-97 was such a year). We seem to be getting an old-fashioned winter here, so while all my Snowdrops have sprouted, I fear I won’t see any blooms til February, even if I dig out the snow to see them.
Kelly, knowing where to look is half the battle.
Well spotted – lucky you. Me, I’m happy that this year I’ll actually have some to look for (eventually), newly planted this fall, and now somewhere beneath more than 2 feet of New Hampshire snow.
You are a tease! They are such a positive, hopeful sign that another year’s gardening is soon on the way. Thank you.
You tease. Another 8 inches of snow greeted us this morning with well over 2 feet on the ground now. But it was nice to see those buds poking up. I’ll be waiting for the flower photos.
Don and Soilman, it has since snowed since that mild day and the snowdrop tips are once again covered. The earliest I have ever had a snowdrop bloom was February. Don, if my snowdrops ever bloom before yours, I will take that as incontrovertible proof that the climate is irredeemably messed up. You would be surprised at how fast two feet of snow can disappear and how much growing those snowdrops do under snow cover.
Ellis Hollow, you and I both know it was an unusually mild winter, and snowdrops blooming in the heat sink of surrounding office buildings is not at all the same thing as snowdrops blooming in quasi-woodland. And I am pretty sure they are G. nivalis, one of the later blooming (but prolific) species. And they bloomed in March last year, when you shot some blooming in January.
Carol, I know you will see crocuses soon. You see them much sooner than I do.
Wow, I didn’t think you’d see snowdrops until late Jan. Here in the UK we have some in flower already, and the daffodils are just starting to push through the soil surface. But the nights are still so LONG! I can’t wait for April…
Well, Kathy, I think you’ll beat me in the great almost-annual snowdrop contest this year; we’ve got almost two feet of snow on the ground and it’s supposed to be well below zero at night for a day or so.
Don
I hope to have a crocus or two blooming in a month or so. Really!
It’s nice when winter gives us a break in the weather so we can get outside to see what ’s going on in the garden.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Last year, I photographed snowdrops in full flower outside my office in early January. So maybe you’ll only need to wait two weeks.