Friday, 1 February 2013

Anyone for snowdrops?



In the drear days of grey winter, nothing lifts the heart like the white heads of snowdrops.

So much promise in those simple buds...


Courtesy of Interflora


This year I want to go on a snowdrop walk. There are lots of places to go.
The Telegraph have some suggestions in their guide 'Best Places to see Snowdrops 2013'


Snowdrops at Ickworth House, Suffolk


This is Ickworth House itself.





Chelsea Physic Gardens are having eight special snowdrop days, starting tomorrow, and running till the Sunday after next.






Website



There are guided walks, talks, painting and printing workshops, some of which are free. Oh, and you can buy snowdrops to brighten your own garden too!

For an England- and Wales-wide list of possible gardens to visit, try the National Gardens Scheme website.  Through this I have found the one I do SO hope to get to next week, Pembury House, which is six miles north of Brighton.




Snowdrops and hellebores.  Just perfect!
Here are some recommendations from my comments section, with links:

 Kingston Lacy (National Trust, near Wimborne, Dorset) recommended by ted and bunny

 Hodsock Priory (Blythe, Nottinghamshire) recommended by Carol of Smile at the Flowers

 Anglesey Abbey and Lode Mill (National Trust, near Cambridge) recommended by Patricia of A Place for Everything

 The Rococo Garden at Painswick and Colesbourne Gardens (both in Gloucestershire) recommended by Rosemary of Where Five Valleys Meet

I'll finish with the words of William Wordsworth.




 To a snowdrop



Lone flower, hemmed in with snows, and white as they

But hardier far, once more I see thee bend

Thy forehead as if fearful to offend,

Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day

Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay

The rising sun, and on the plains descend;

Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend

Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May

Shall soon behold this border thickly set

With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing

On the soft west-wind and its frolic peers;

Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,

Chaste snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,

And pensive monitor of fleeting years!


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16 comments:

  1. claire1 February 2013 at 13:14

    i love snow drops! we have some really tall ones come up in the garden every year!

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  2. ted and bunny1 February 2013 at 13:20

    some lovely Snowdrop weekends here at Kingston Lacy...
    thanks for the owl comment, I'm on such a high its ridiculous isn't it!

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    1. Used-to-Bees1 February 2013 at 17:04

      Glad you're still on your crochet high! I'd seen Kingston Lacy down on the Telegraph's list and thought that might be worth the journey. I used to drive past the gates most weekends, but I have never been!

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  3. gillyflower1 February 2013 at 13:36

    What a lovely "promise of spring" post! I know snowdrops come well before Spring but to me they are the first sign of better things to come!
    Hope you manage to enjoy a good snow drop walk - have just checked out the Pembury House website, lots of hellebores too as well as other spring colour to come - you should have a lovely walk!
    I shall check out our local NT gardens to see which is the best bet.
    Have a great weekend Alix
    Gill xx

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  4. Carol1 February 2013 at 14:19

    I love snowdrops and Hellebore toos. Quite a few out already. Favourite place for Snowdrops near here is Hodsock Priory. We go every year. www.hodsockpriory/snowdrops

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  5. Vintage Sheet Addict1 February 2013 at 15:34

    They are beautiful, mine have popped their heads out but not in flower jet! :) x

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  6. Patricia1 February 2013 at 16:06

    They are gorgeous aren't they. Another lovely snowdrop walk is a National Trust property in Cambridgeshire - Anglesey Abbey and Lode Mill. I went last February and the woodland walk is wonderful.
    Patricia x

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    1. Used-to-Bees1 February 2013 at 17:06

      I will put a link to your recommendations up in the post, so thanks for that!
      x

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  7. Kay1 February 2013 at 16:08

    So lovely. Ours are out in the garden now, they just make me happy. the first flowers of the year for us, so tiny but the ones I look for as they show sunshine will be on the way.

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  8. Joanna1 February 2013 at 17:24

    Snowdrops are so lovely, a real promise of Spring. Super poem too.

    Last year I made an ATC about Snowdrops, using a poem by Coleridge;

    http://fiddlesnips.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/february-atc.html

    x

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  9. Rosemary1 February 2013 at 19:14

    The Rococo Garden in Painswick, Gloucestershire is famed for its snowdrops, and a note on their website says they are now all out. Colesbourne Gardens also in Gloucs is famed for having 250 different varieties of snowdrop, and the chance to buy some of the rare ones.

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    1. Used-to-Bees1 February 2013 at 19:36

      Thanks! Just put up a link. I want to go on a country wide tour now!
      x

      Delete
  10. Annabelle2 February 2013 at 17:07

    Found your lovely blog and spent a long time getting to know you. Have joined and look forward to lots more posts. Love the poem.

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  11. BadPenny2 February 2013 at 17:22

    I do hope you go. We went to Kingstom Lacy last year and took my mum who loves snowdrops.
    Thank you for your lovely comment xx

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  12. Rustic Vintage Country2 February 2013 at 18:10

    I've always wanted to do a snowdrop walk but have never got around to it...well, did try once but it was cancelled due to heavy rainfall which made the walk dangerous!! I do hope you get to one. Suzy x

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