The snowdrop may have fooled poets with its look of lonely vulnerability, but it's as tough as Doc Martens, writes Jane Powers
Is there anything so beauteous and hope-filled as the first snowdrops tentatively tinkling their pure-white bells in the early-year garden?
Or, come to think of it, is there any flower that promotes such an out-of-proportion onslaught of sentimentality as the tiny snowdrop?
Wordsworth referred in 1819 to "these frail snowdrops that together cling,/ And nod their helmets, smitten by the wing/ Of many a furious whirl-blast sweeping by". Earlier, in 1797, Coleridge urged: "Fear no more, thou timid Flower!/ Fear thou no more the winter's might." And earlier still, in 1791, Mary Robinson queried: "Thou meekest emblem of infant tear,/ Why droops so cold and wan thy fragrant head?"
It is, of course, the snowdrop's lonely vulnerability that twangs the poet's heart strings, as it bravely goes it alone, rising from the stone-cold ground during the most bitter time of the year. But this "solitary firstling" (thank you, Alfred Lord Tennyson) is in reality a bovver boy among plants - perfectly outfitted to survive in the toughest of circumstances. Or, rather, make that a bovver girl, as consensus says that Galanthus nivalis is female. Her vernacular names include fair maids of February, white ladies, naked maidens - as well as Candlemas bells (because she traditionally appears around Candlemas, on February 2nd) and death's flower, as it was considered unlucky to bring the blooms into the house.
The snowdrop has a variety of strategies to ensure that it is well able to endure Wordsworth's "storms, sallying from the mountain tops" and Coleridge's "silence of the freezing night". Its veins are filled with nature's equivalent of antifreeze, allowing it to tolerate temperatures of minus 15 degrees. The plants may become flattened and flaccid on those silent, freezing nights, but when the air warms up they rise again triumphant.
The seemingly modest, downturned bells, meanwhile, protect the plant's reproductive parts from inclement weather, especially rain. And the flowers have a mechanism that locks them tightly shut into pearl-like drops until the temperature reaches 10 degrees. At that point enough insects (which pollinate the flowers) are active to make it worthwhile opening for business.
Snowdrops contain proteins called lectins, which are toxic to most pests, so they are usually left alone by invertebrates - although slugs and snails do occasionally nibble the flowers. So, yes, although they may look frail and decorous, February's fair maids are as tough as old Doc Martens boots.
There are 18 species, and hundreds of named varieties, of Galanthus. In the wild they occur from western Europe to the Iranian Caucasus and the Caspian Sea, with most species concentrated around Asia Minor and the Caucasus.
Best known is the common snowdrop, G nivalis, which has naturalised in parts of this island (including many spots in Northern Ireland) but is not a true native. Other kinds of snowdrops are very scarce in garden centres, and are usually to be found only in specialist nurseries or in other people's gardens.
Indeed, the traditional way of obtaining snowdrops is by the kindness of friends, who hand over a few bulbs when they are "in the green", that is, after they have flowered but before the foliage has died back.
Snowdrop clumps benefit if they are dug up and divided every few years, as overcrowding can impede flower formation. Most gardeners are happy to donate their excess to another snowdrop fancier. They should be
replanted immediately, between five and 10 centimetres apart in naturalistic groupings or swathes.
Add some leaf mould or garden compost, to imitate their natural woodland conditions; if the ground is heavy, add some grit also.
Snowdrops establish poorly from dried bulbs, so avoid buying in autumn, unless they are from a reliable specialist.
I won't annoy you with a list of desirable kinds, because, really, almost all snowdrops are little treasures. And to a galanthophile, as snowdrop collectors are less commonly known, any one you don't have is one you desperately need.