Against the Odds: Snowdrops


Today's new blog series Against the Odds was inspired by the reaction to my recent Wordless Wednesday post Tenacity Required. Jane Powers remarked she loves seeing 'all those roof and wall opportunists' and I realised I've been subconsciously collecting (and sometimes blogging) pictures of them for quite a while.

Today's picture is from Painswick Rococo garden which Helen*, Victoria and I visited last week. The snowdrops there are on top form at the moment, so it's well worth a visit if you're in the area. We were all intrigued how the pictured snowdrops had managed to self seed themselves (I'm assuming this is the case) into a wall several feet below their more conventionally growing cousins.

There's also been some very good news involving snowdrops reported recently. Research shows galanthine extracted from two snowdrops species (G. caucasicus and G. woronowii) can help to improve the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Now that's one snowdrop story I'm sure everyone is happy to see at any time of the year :)

* = You can read Helen's post about our visit here, as well as my post about a previous visit to Painswick in the snow. In contrast to today's tiny snapshot on this post, both give a grand tour of the garden, its history and gazillions of snowdrops

Update: Esther has written a delightful post with a wonderful picture of her Scruffiest Snowdrop :)

Comments

  1. Helen/patientgardener11 February 2013 at 08:39

    Arh your photo came out OK then - it is very cute

    ReplyDelete
  2. VP11 February 2013 at 09:42

    Thanks Helen - I find snowdrops quite hard to photograph especially when they're not fully open like these were. It's trying to get some detail into the white - I'm sure you'll appreciate that from painting them. This is the slightly underexposed version of the 2 photos I took.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jo11 February 2013 at 13:34

    It's amazing where some plants will grow. We tend to cosset and mollycoddle plants, yet they can manage to grow in the most unlikeliest of places without our intervention.

    ReplyDelete
  4. VP11 February 2013 at 14:20

    Hi Jo - yes and I see it happening in my garden on a regular basis. The cosseted plant dies and the self seeded or neglected one thrives!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sue Garrett11 February 2013 at 16:25

    I'd have never imagined snowdrops would grow in such a situation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP11 February 2013 at 16:28

      Hi Sue - we were rather surprised too! I'm wondering if they had a helping hand e.g. squirrels...

      Delete
  6. Jill Anderson11 February 2013 at 16:58

    Never seen one growing like this, so many flowers too!Jill

    ReplyDelete
  7. Caro11 February 2013 at 19:22

    Lovely photo, VP - the snowdrops stand out against the brick wall rather well! Perhaps it grew from seeds dropped down and carried into the crevice in the wall by ants? (They move cyclamen seeds in the spring so perhaps not such a stretch to imagine that they might move snowdrop seeds.) Just goes to show how determined plants can be!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Janet/Plantaliscious11 February 2013 at 20:01

    Wonderful - and great idea for a series too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anna B11 February 2013 at 22:28

    Amazing!!! You all must have been overjoyed to see such a lovely plant growing like that! Thanks for sharing : ) it's really lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  10. easygardener11 February 2013 at 23:03

    Like VP I was wondering if Squirrels could be the culprit - if so they did a good job :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. easygardener11 February 2013 at 23:05

    Doh - I meant to say you not VP!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. HELENE12 February 2013 at 02:45

    Lovely photo, I guess the seeds somehow managed to lodge themselves between the stones. I also find it difficult to photograph snowdrops, and any other pure white flowers, I also find I lose a lot of the details unless I underexpose.

    ReplyDelete
  13. VP12 February 2013 at 11:04

    Jill - I think there might be several bulbs crowded in there. Some snowdrops can be multi-flowered but I think there's too many for that this time.

    Caro - I hadn't thought about ants... I suppose if they were the really tiny bulbs, that would work?

    Janet - thank you. All my series are occasional ones, but I have some great ideas lined up :)

    Anna - it just shows how little a plant needs to thrive.

    EG - I knew what you meant ;) I'm still thinking it's squirrels, but Caro's comment's got me thinking...

    Helene - I know exactly what you mean. I think I could have probably gone down another stop, but it's too late!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Liz12 February 2013 at 11:12

    I think there's something very beautiful about plants set against stone and the snowdrops in your beautiful photo are no exception.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Angie12 February 2013 at 18:24

    That's a lovely picture - I wonder just how successful it would be if we tried for this effect! - best left to nature I think :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. VP12 February 2013 at 21:21

    Liz - they do look good :)

    Angie - with my track record it'd be a non-starter ;) You're right - best left to nature :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Donna@Gardens Eye View12 February 2013 at 21:26

    Love the picture and fascinating info about Alzheimer's disease.

    ReplyDelete
  18. VP12 February 2013 at 21:28

    Hi Donna - yes, it's a story which particularly resonates with us because my MIL has dementia and my grandmother had Alzheimer's.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anna12 February 2013 at 21:38

    Oh what a perfect nestling place VP - must have made your hear sing. I have seen snowdrops doing similar in dry-stone walls in the Lake District. I think that galanthus voronwii should read woronwii but whatever it's marvellous that these beautiful flowers have a medicinal use, which I found out about when my Dad was ill. I think that galanthamine can also be extracted from daffodils.Thanks for your encouraging comments about my snowdrop photos - I'm going to look into cards :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP12 February 2013 at 21:43

      Hi Anna - it did :) I'd love to see them in the Lake District!

      Thanks for the correct name - duly amended. Plant Heritage got the name wrong in their press release!

      Delete
  20. Annie_H13 February 2013 at 21:15

    Brilliant photo, snowdrops are tough cookies at the best of times, flowering in the depth of winter, but that one is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Esther Montgomery14 February 2013 at 11:55

    Snowdrops don't like my garden. Doesn't matter whether I plant them in the green, brown or purple, they don't come up a second year. Having said which - you know I dug half the garden up to create a lawn then stopped because of the weather? A snowdrop has come up there - right in the designer mud. One snowdrop does not create a display, I know that - and it's a pretty feeble snowdrop - but a snowdrop!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Esther Montgomery14 February 2013 at 17:47

    This post has inspired this - http://tinyurl.com/ba8cmee - The Scruffiest Snowdrop.

    ReplyDelete
  23. VP18 February 2013 at 13:05

    Annie_H - welcome! This is an especially tough cookie :)

    Esther - that's one of the things I love about plants - they don't obey the gardener ;)

    ReplyDelete

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