Ask Jimi Blake, the gardener, author, educator and creator of Hunting Brook Gardens in west Wicklow, when he got hooked on snowdrops and he’ll tell you that it took him quite a while. But the process began as a young gardener when he found himself as the somewhat unenthusiastic recipient of fat clumps of the freshly excavated bulbs enthusiastically gifted to him by older, more seasoned gardeners.
“I cringe when I think back to how I just didn’t fully appreciate the treasures I was being given. Rarities like Galanthus ‘Green Lantern’, for example, that I only realised many years later are so highly sought after. I would bring them home, stick them in a bed in a corner of the garden, and then forget all about them.”
That was before Ireland’s long, dark, wet, dreary winters slowly changed his mind about this dainty but most resilient of flowers. “I gradually began to appreciate how magical the snowdrop is, how tough and exceptionally hardy it is, how it completely lights up the garden at a time when you’re just so glad to see any sign of life. Some of the earliest varieties, such as ‘Mrs Macnamara’ and ‘Castlegar’ can start flowering here in mid-December.”
Seduced, Blake began dividing up established clumps “in the green” and planting them in generous sprinkles throughout Hunting Brooks’ edge-of-woodland beds where they thrived and multiplied in the cool, damp but free-draining, humus-rich soil, dappled seasonal shade, and high rainfall typical of this upland region of west Wicklow.
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Encouraged by their success, Blake – a horticultural magpie who loves to exhaustively collect varieties of certain favourite genera – started seeking out rare and unusual cultivars, along with others prized for their garden-worthiness. Visits to noted snowdrop gardens in Ireland and abroad such as Altamont in Co Carlow, RHSI Bellefield in Co Offaly, Coosheen in Co Cork and Picton Garden in Herefordshire further piqued his interest, as did the catalogues of specialist nurseries in Ireland, the UK and Ukraine. Soon he became a regular attendee at the annual snowdrop galas in Carlow and the UK, events dedicated to celebrating this tiny winter-flowering bulbous plant. Today, Hunting Brook is home to what’s now considered one of the largest collections of snowdrops in Ireland, with more than 800 carefully catalogued varieties that start to reach their seasonal peak at this time of year.
Among Blake’s favourites is Galanthus’ Magnet’, an exceptionally elegant snowdrop known for its distinctively elongated, slender, arching pedicel (the part of the plant that connects the flower to its stem). “It’s outstanding. Beautiful, vigorous, and fast to bulk up so it quickly makes generous clumps.”
Another is Galanthus ‘S. Arnott’, a garden classic with tall, much larger than average, sweetly perfumed flowers that appear during January-March. Vigorous and long-lived, no serious collector of snowdrops would be without it.
Galanthus plicatus ‘Trymlet’ also makes Blake’s top five on account of the flower’s distinctive emerald-green markings and what specialists describe as its “inverse poculiform” shape, meaning that all six petals are of a similar shape and size.
No serious galanthophile would also be without at least one yellow-flowering variety, some of which have sold at auction for eye-wateringly high prices in recent years. Blake’s favourite is Galanthus ‘Spindlestone Surprise’, a hybrid that stands out for its globe-shaped, bright-golden ovaries as well as the distinctive golden markings on the flower’s three inner petals. Again, it clumps up quickly at Hunting Brook, where it enjoys near-ideal growing conditions.
He also prizes Galanthus ‘Mark’s Tall’, a very reliable Irish hybrid variety introduced by breeder Mark Smyth. “It bulks up quickly and its tall flowers really stand out in the garden because of their height. I’ve deliberately repeated it throughout the edge-of-woodland beds to give a kind of gentle rhythm to the planting.”
Growing snowdrops on a large scale has taught Blake the value of combining them with other very early-flowering bulbs and early emerging herbaceous perennials as part of a multilayered edge-of-woodland planting scheme that gradually unfolds and evolves as the seasons change. “There’s this common perception of snowdrops as shade-lovers, whereas in fact they do best along the edges of deciduous planting where they can enjoy bright winter sunlight and aren’t crowded out by more vigorous species.”
For this reason, Blake avoids growing them in Hunting Brook’s famously flamboyant flowerbeds that stretch along either side of the steeply sloping avenue up to the house, where a regularly changing cast of uber-colourful summer and autumn flowering annuals and perennials are combined to create high-octane displays. “There’s just way too much of a risk of accidentally digging them up or damaging them while their bulbs are in summer hibernation. Instead, I’ve learned that snowdrops really appreciate a spot in the garden where they aren’t disturbed and don’t have to compete for light, water and nutrients. An annual organic mulch every autumn also helps to keep them happy, as does the fact that they grow in gently raised beds where the soil doesn’t get waterlogged in winter.”
Favourite planting partners include Corydalis solida, a dainty but surprisingly tough little woodland perennial that bursts into growth in late winter. Primulas also make natural bedfellows, including the low-growing semi-evergreen Primula ‘Old Port’, Primula ‘Hall Barn Blue’ and our own native primrose. Tough, evergreen polypodies (a hardy, evergreen fern) provide a pleasing contrast, as does the mottled foliage of Geranium phaeum. Eranthis, hellebores and narcissi also make for good companions, with Blake keeping the focus on early-flowering miniature varieties of the latter.
It’s all a very far cry from the young gardener who barely gave snowdrops a second glance. But then as Blake would be the very first to admit, this dainty bulbous perennial is famed among gardeners for its discreetly beguiling ways.
Guided tours of Hunting Brook’s snowdrops are available on the following dates: February 16th, 18th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 25th (11am-1pm), pre-booking essential, see huntingbrook.com.
This week in the garden
Heavy rainfall over recent weeks has left most soils waterlogged, so try to avoid digging or walking on lawns/flowerbeds until conditions improve. Otherwise, you run the risk of causing long-term damage to soil structure resulting in impaction, poor drainage and reduced fertility.
While it’s still a little too early to sow seed of most plants, the following all benefit from being sown in early February: sweet pea, cup-and-saucer vine, snapdragon, cleome, chillies, broad beans, onions and autumn leeks. Sow under cover in a bright spot with plenty of natural light. Many but not all will require additional bottom heat for good germination, as well as protection from cold temperatures.
Dates for your diary
Snowdrop Month at Altamont Gardens, Co Carlow Continuing for the rest of February (9.30am-4.30pm, tours at 2pm). For details of other notable Irish snowdrop gardens opening to the public, see huntingtoncastle.com, burtownhouse.ie, hesterfordegarden.com, rhsi.ie (for Bellefield), shankillcastle.com, woodvillewalledgarden.com and @primrosehillgarden_ireland on Instagram.
GLDA Seminar 2026: The Interconnection of All Things Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry, Dublin; Saturday, February28th. With guest speakers Neil Porteous, Galen Fulford, Margie Ruddick, Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt, glda.ie.
