Snowdrops are rather demure and unassuming flowers — simple white, downward-facing blooms on short stems. No fragrance, no vivid colours, no dramatic foliage. However, they’re always greeted with fanfare when they appear in our gardens in late winter, simply because they’re usually the first flowers we have.
First flowers of spring: In Stephen Westcott-Gratton’s garden in south-central Ontario, minor bulbs of early spring are in flower, as are the hellebores.
Order snowdrops now to get them safely planted by the end of September. Snowdrop bulbs require early planting if they’re to flourish.
I dearly love snowdrops, and some years a heavy snowfall flattens them. I’ve put some upside-down buckets over them to protect them from the weight of snow. This looks absurd and, of course, snowdrops are meant to stand in snow, but I’m emotionally invested in these little bulbs.