Snowdrops on Tour

Picture of various snowdrops in the back of my car
Snowdrops on loan from Evolution Plants - now even NAH understands there are galanthophiles in this world
and he can see the differences in the species, forms and characteristics of this selection of snowdrops. 

I've just come back from an enjoyable week dedicated to all things snowdrop. As you can see this involved the unusual step of taking some snowdrops on tour as well as visiting several key gardens.

It's all Naomi's fault: I'd agreed to help her with her talk at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, the first in a series resulting from her book. Tom at Evolution Plants agreed to lend her some snowdrops and so I found myself there in the polytunnel on a windy Wednesday making a selection of 10 distinctive ones. These were to serve as a live and scented illustration alongside her slides.

Naomi Slade tells the story of the Greatorex Double snowdrops at the National Botanic Garden of wales

Thank goodness we went there a day early. It allowed the AV facilities to get sorted and for us to recce the snowdrop walk Naomi was going to lead after her talk. She was able to spot some of the more choice varieties in the garden's collection and weave in their stories along the way, such as the Greatorex Doubles. Here she's showing us the finer points of snowdrop identification - kudos to Naomi and the 18 or so hardy souls who came on the walk, it was snowing for much of it!

Now I must admit to a bit of a rush of blood to the head. As well as helping Naomi, I was invited to a press and blogger day to see the famous snowdrops at Hodsock Priory on Tuesday and somehow the thought of a 3 hour drive after a weekend in West Wales didn't seem quite as bad as it did last year. Besides, I worked at Hodsock Farm as a student and here was the perfect excuse to revisit the area.

"I need a little holiday to help cheer up February", I told myself and so I accepted my invitation...


... and then a cunning plan began to form for my snowdrop break. Easton Walled Gardens isn't that far from Hodsock Priory and has a set of snowdrop days which start on Valentine's Day this year (until Feb 22nd). It would be great to see both gardens if I could. Thank goodness Ursula Cholmeley agreed and kindly allowed me in for a sneak preview on Monday, where we played Spot the dog amongst the massed snowdrops.

The blooms have yet to gain their full height, but that doesn't stop the effectiveness of this sunny woodland scene.


Naomi's talk included a couple of small demonstration pots for suggested planting combinations. I was rather taken by this large urn at Easton which lifted the snowdrops to my eye level and made it easy to detect their honeyed scent. There were plenty of other pots awaiting this treatment ready to delight visitors in a week or so's time.


Tuesday dawned clear, bitingly cold and with a sprinkling of snow. I was glad I didn't have to face a long drive thanks to George and Kat Buchanan's generous hospitality at Hodsock Priory. It also meant Barbara and I had time to explore the winter garden with the snow at its best. How often do we dream of visiting a garden decorated in this way, yet are disappointed to find it so rarely happens?

I'll return to the subject of winter gardens in a later post, so let's move on to the snowdrops in the meantime...


Just like at Easton, most of the snowdrops await your discovery in the woodlands at Hodsock Priory. The low, slanting sunlight helped to pick out the blooms from their light dusting of snow.There are reputed to be around 4 million of them, though I suspect George and the team don't count theirs like I do mine ;)

The large drifts you find at Hodsock and other gardens famed for their snowdrops usually consist of Galanthus nivalis, plus some G. 'Flore pleno' added for good measure. I don't mind there aren't any of the named snowdrop treasures there; for me the magic is in having them as far as the eye can see.

Galanthus 'S. Arnott'
Closer to the house there are some labelled snowdrop treasures awaiting discovery, planted in isolated pockets to stop them interbreeding and losing their individual characteristics. There are also details of a special snowdrop connection: Joseph Mallender, Hodsock's Head Gardener for 40 years left the Priory in 1908 to garden for Samuel Arnott, of Galanthus 'S. Arnott' fame.

As I've decided to use plants in my garden which connect to friends, family or gardens visited, I've decided the pictured example of G. 'S. Arnott' I collected from Evolution Plants will be staying with me.

The Buchanan family at Hodsock Priory

We were also invited to help the Buchanan family celebrate their 250th year at the Priory. Here are George and Kat (centre) with Sir Andrew and Lady Buchanan about to cut the official ribbon to start proceedings. I can remember Sir Andrew from when I worked at Hodsock Farm, even though I worked for a completely different family there.

Sir Andrew's grandmother was Lady Beatrix Stanley, who along with her daughter was instrumental in the design of Hodsock's winter garden and forming the massed plantings found in the snowdrop walk plus establishing the collection closer to the house. It seemed churlish not to keep her snowdrop namesake as souvenir.

The whole family are passionate about Hodsock Priory as both a special place and a family home. It's obvious they're proud of what they do and are keen to make the time each visitor spends there an enjoyable and comfortable one.

The gardens are open for snowdrop viewing until March 1st 2015, 10am to 4pm. If you can't make the season this year (or any other February), you'll have to wangle yourself an invitation to a swanky wedding! My thanks to George and Kat for a wonderful day and going out of their way - along with Helen Leach - to make my visit happen.

You may also like:

Alison at The Blackberry Garden has her version of the day's events. It was great to meet up with her again, plus her friend Karen. She has more details of Hodsock's history and lots of different photos from our walk.

It was good to meet Cathy and The Golfer from Rambling in the Garden for the first time, whose blog post about the day can be found here.

Tune in next week for more about Hodsock Priory's other winter garden features.

Postscript

After my grand tour, I couldn't resist a visit to my local snowdrops at Lacock Abbey yesterday, where I found this rare example of a Galanthus humungus at their Frozen World exhibition.

Galanthus sculpture at Lacock Abbey


Comments

  1. CJ6 February 2015 at 09:55

    That looks like a lovely day, and the perfect weather for admiring snow drops. I must have a look in our local churchyard and see if their snowdrops are in bloom yet. Lacock is a wonderful place isn't it, I haven't been for ages, I must visit again soon. CJ xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP6 February 2015 at 13:03

      I'm lucky that Lacock is so near CJ. There's a fab outdoor sculpture exhibition at the moment - ends this weekend though...

      Delete
  2. Anna6 February 2015 at 11:24

    I was wondering whether you had braved the elements to cross the border and to then venture on to Hodsock as well. So glad to hear that you did. It sounds as if you really enjoyed your snowdrop fest. Lady B and Sam A are fabulous 'drops to have bought home with you. I don't think that you would have fitted 'galanthus humungus' in your car somehow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP6 February 2015 at 13:04

      Anna, having tried some 'drop photography since bringing these home, I'm in awe of your skill :)

      Delete
  3. Pauline6 February 2015 at 11:38

    What a wonderful time you must have had, I wish I could have been with you. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP6 February 2015 at 13:05

      That would have been great Pauline - so glad you could 'accompany' me on my tour in a virtual way :)

      Delete
  4. Sue Garrett6 February 2015 at 13:21

    I love to see snowdrops en masse like that - lucky you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP6 February 2015 at 13:25

      How far away is Hodsock from you Sue? Could be worth a day trip... or now that snowdrop expert John Grimshaw is up your way, he may start planting up the arboretum!

      Delete
    2. Sue Garrett6 February 2015 at 15:21

      I've looked it up and it's about an hour's drive so we'll see how we are fixed

      Delete
    3. VP7 February 2015 at 14:03

      Fingers crossed you get there Sue.

      I've also found this listing of snowdrop gardens which may be useful: http://www.greatbritishgardens.co.uk/seasonal/snowdrops.html

      Delete
  5. Alison Levey8 February 2015 at 08:44

    It was a great day and good to catch up with you again too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP16 February 2015 at 14:56

      And again at the Garden Press Event Alison!

      Delete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing ...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more