On Saturday, Montrose hosted a short tour to see the snowdrops at their best. At least, it’s their best between now and, say, Christmas. I expect to see them blooming in the woods throughout the winter and into the spring.
Snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) beneath a fallen trunk of Maclura pomifera, commonly known as osage orange.
Nancy started with a packet of snowdrop bulbs purchased at the local feed store. She tended them, divided them, shared them, transplanted them. At some point, the casual interest metamorphosed into a passion.
In late November, the snowdrop ridge turns from a hill of fallen leaves into a rippling white ribbon.
On my second or third day at work, I helped to weed the ridge pictured here. Microstegium grew in billowy clumps, camouflaging English ivy and the foliage of various species of cyclamen. Out came the Microstegium, just before it set seed, as well as the ivy. The fallen leaves remain to decompose on their own schedule.
At the time, I found no evidence of snowdrops anywhere. My colleagues promised it would be lovely in time. (And it will look even more heavenly when the Podocarpus [left-hand side] fill in behind them.)
I know of four Galanthus species in the garden (G. elwesii, G. nivalis, G. reginae-olgae, and G. woronowii) but I am sure there are more. Then, there are named varieties and the charming mutts begotten of self-hybridizing.
I particularly like them grouped amongst Pulmonaria.
Snowdrops growing amidst Pulmonaria sp.
I’m sorry if you had to miss it (Susie and Erica…). Hope you can come next time.
MissingHenryMitchell 
There are snowdrops at my place that were here when we moved in 22 years ago. They are a quite tall variety and bloom early — late December and January. They are totally dependable and are slowly expanding among the shrubs and perennials. Right now they are sprouting but nowhere near blooming (we’ve had a little snow and several days of below freezing temps).
Wow, these are spectacular! I am sorry to have missed these. You must be having fun working and learning there.
So sad I could not make it and that I could not meet you. 😦 It looks like it was a great afternoon. In your area are other Snowdrops blooming? Reason being, I was wondering if these were the fall blooming varieties or not if so it is a very big colony of them. I hope a perk of your job is that you can take a few home… 🙂 Hopefully I can make it down next time!
It was a gorgeous afternoon–we could not have had better weather had we ordered it from a catalogue. The snowdrops in bloom right now are the fall-blooming varieties. She has a massive colony of them. She divides them pretty regularly to keep them going. Other varieties will come into bloom in the coming months, ending sometime around mid- to late February.
What a nice show for this time of year. It really shows promise for the winter season and it must be great to have this so close to home!