It's all white now...
Note to self: 'And' is better than 'Or'.
I am not a snowdrop-aholic. And this is not a snowdrop. It’s Leucojum vernus, a little taller and larger than a double snowdrop and, to my eye a more pleasing shape. I like the Leucojum’s clean interior too, its amber, pollen-bearing anthers a magnet for early bees. But you don’t have to have one or the other - Snowdrops and Leucojums like the same conditions, in dappled shade under trees, and they rub along perfectly well, self-seeding amongst each other. As my wise and wonderful friend Rodney is fond of saying, ‘and’ is better than ‘or’.
Yes, a drift of plain old Galanthus nivalis quivering in a chill breeze is arguably the finest sight in February, and that’s exactly how I like them - clumps of wild snowdrops slowly self-seeding, creeping up a bank over the decades. I may yet succumb, but I have managed so far to resist the siren calls of Galanthophilia and feel no desire for a yellow one, or one with petals that stick out like propeller blades. It’s all got a bit out of hand, a bit ‘tulip-mania’, don’t you think?
Elsewhere in the garden white is the colour of the moment and it’s easy to see why. Low light levels and short days mean that early flowering plants must use all their wiles to attract pollinators. Pale colours shine out in low light, and a sweet scent helps insects to find flowers tucked under trees. Petasites paradoxus is a very understated perennial, with silvery, slightly felty leaves in summer. Its real value is that it flowers so early and so close to the ground, in mid-February and is scented and nectar rich, giving a much needed feed to any brave bees that risk a low level flight outside.
Red hellebores are all the rage right now, but I love the simplicity of white ones. On the left is a lovely white form of Helleborus orientalis. This occurs in all shades from white and pink through to red, often with speckles or a picotee edging. The flowers are usually turned down so you need to get on your knees to see inside them. On the right is the pure white Helleborus niger with outward facing flowers. Of course, ‘niger’ means black in the plant world. So why would a naturally white hellebore be named ‘black’? The roots are black, apparently. Righto.
My favourite crocus is slowly naturalising under the cherry trees - the lovely‘Joan of Arc’. But I am not a purist - touches of richer colours here and there are welcome. My mum bought me some packs of Crocus ‘Prince Claus’ for me a few years back, rightly observing that a bit more colour wouldn’t go amiss. She’s right of course and I love the way the purple seeps up from the base of the flower, as if dipped in ink. So I have white crocuses, plain purple ones and white and purple ones.
I bought five white birches on impulse from Mary Hoult several years ago, when she was dismantling a Cancer Research Show Garden after RHS Tatton Show. Mary is an understated soul, except when she is raising money for charity. I may have made the mistake of telling her I had a van on site and so of course I ended up swapping her last remaining unsold trees for good hard cash…. I first met Mary on RHS Level 2 in Horticulture class at Reaseheath College in 2005. For almost a year Mary claimed little to no knowledge of plants, gently deferring to the more confident among us when it came to answering questions. It was almost the last week of course that we found out she had won Gold and Best Show Garden for her Opera Fan garden at Tatton the year before. After that, we brooked none of her feigned ignorance :-).
In a lovely development, I’m now having occasional piano lessons with Mary. She lives about an hour away, so I have a double lesson of course, with a break for coffee and gardening chit chat.
My leap into gardening eighteen years ago was more than a career change - it has brought me wonderful, life-long friends too, enriching my life beyond measure. x
(PS - I don’t intend to charge for reading these posts, ever. It’s not my reason for being here, though of course for others, writing is part of their livelihood. If a screen popped up inviting you to pay, please let me know and I shall remove it. Thanks. )
